


JoJo and the Crystal Gems

by The_Lampman



Series: JoJo and the Crystal Gems [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon), ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 | JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Genre: Action/Adventure, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-04-07 01:49:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 55,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14070261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Lampman/pseuds/The_Lampman
Summary: It's been a year since the Morioh warriors defeated Kira. However, adventure calls once again upon Jotaro, Josuke, Okuyasu, and Koichi. Santana, the last pillar man has escaped and he needs to be stopped. But that will be easier said and done. Who are these colorful women? What are they? It's almost like they're not even human...Weird things are happening in Beach City. Humans with strange powers emerge and threaten the peaceful town. Who are these strangers? What is this strange power they wield? It is unlike anything the Crystal Gems have ever seen before...Danger lurks everywhere; in the shadows hides the pillar man and in the crowds, stand users. And Homeworld still has unfinished business with the Earth...Will our heroes be able to defeat these dangers? Or will they be consumed by the darkness?





	1. Breakdown, Breakout, Act 1

**Chapter 1: Breakdown, Breakout, Act 1  
**   
Darkness is often used in storytelling as a metaphor for things like death and the unknown. Which makes sense. Weak human eyes are greatly impaired by a lack of light and a complete absence renders their vision spheres useless. And since humans rely heavily on their eyesight, removing it can cause many problems.   
  
In nature, with predators and dangers behind every tree, a blind human is as good as dead.  
  
This might be the reason that whenever the power goes out and the lights all go dark, every human can’t help but flinch. A bright room going dark in an instant will unsettle almost anyone. It’s only natural. One could be in a perfectly safe environment, and still get spooked by the mere thought of there being something dangerous hiding in the dark, just outside of your perception.  
  
In cases like these, humanity’s greatest strength becomes their greatest weakness. In the darkness, imagination runs rampant. The lack of visual stimuli makes the brain run wild, making up countless fictional dangers. Thus, the human herself manufactures her own greatest enemy: fear.   
  
Now, imagine if there was an actual danger in the room when it went dark. Imagine a vicious predator is present in the room as it goes dark. Imagine being trapped inside a confined space with the most dangerous predator you can imagine, the perfect killer. The only thing keeping it at bay is the light from the bulb in the roof.  
  
And then it’s gone. Your last line of defense disappears and you’re alone with an inhuman creature that not only wants to kill you but can and will.  
  
The very second the power went out at the Speedwagon Foundation Headquarters in New York was a moment like that for everyone present in a very special room.   
  
Three stories beneath the ground, absent from any floor plans, was a high-security vault. This vault was only accessible by a chosen few, no more than forty-three people in the entire world. It was as secure and often more so than the best bank vaults in the world. Inside were only five objects.  
  
Laying inside a showcase made from bulletproof glass were three ornate arrows. Inside a similar case was a mask made of stone. The third case was not made from glass, but metal. A hermetically sealed metal coffin. You couldn’t see it from the outside, but inside were UV lights, constantly bombarding the object inside with their radiation. They had done so without stop for decades. And then suddenly they stopped.  
  
The beast inside the coffin had been sleeping for thousands of years. It had awoken for a brief period in 1958 before being forced into sleep again. Now it was awake again.   
  
Of course, the vault was made to withstand a possible escape from the coffin. The doors were made from twenty centimeters thick steel and the walls reinforced concrete. The backup generators would need a minute or so to start up; about eighty seconds for the UV lights installed in the vault to come on, turning it back into stone.  
  
However, fate had thrown a wrench into the Foundations careful planning. For that very moment the power went out, the door was open. Two researchers had just entered the vault to retrieve one of the arrows for testing.  
  
Luck. Stupid, blind luck. That’s the only reason the monster managed to escape. It had luck. Any other day, any other moment, it’s attempt to escape would be fruitless. It wouldn’t get past the door. It wasn’t like researchers were constantly running in and out of the vault. On average, it was open for two minutes every three months. The odds of something like this were ridiculously low.  
  
But it happened. And this one moment was all the monster needed to make its escape.  
  
Once the special task force got down there, it was far too late. The coffin was torn open, the glass cases smashed to bits, mask, and arrows gone, alongside the two researchers.  
  
The last pillar man, Santana, roamed the world freely once again.  
  
**This Begins JoJo and the Crystal Gems part one: Phantom Corruption**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic takes place 'now' in the summer of 2018. Pretty much everything in JoJo up till the end of DiU is cannon, but pushed twenty or so years into the future (that's why it says why Santana was last awake in 1958).
> 
> At the time of writing, the last episode is Jungle Moon (though revelations in later episodes have/will be incorporated), so this story picks up sometime after that. The biggest immediate change is that Lapis decided to stay on Earth in 'Raising the Barn.'
> 
> With that out of the way... I am The Lampman, and I welcome you to JoJo and the Crystal Gems... and Steven! Please enjoy.


	2. Breakdown, Breakout, Act 2

Chapter 1: Breakdown, Breakout, Act 2

Today was a ’great’ day for Josuke Higashikata. The sun was shining, the birds chirping and flowers blooming. It was warm outside, but not uncomfortably so. More importantly, it was the first day of summer break! This elusive day was finally here.

Yes, how could he not smile as he strolled along the streets of Morioh? His best friends, Okuyasu Nijimura and Koichi Hirose were by his side. The day was peaceful. He no longer felt any pain from his injuries.

Ah, yes. Even on this perfect day, Josuke still couldn’t help but flinch at the thought of that day. Reflexively, he brought his hand to a spot on his lower stomach. Even through the jacket and shirt, he could still feel that scar tissue. He had been insanely lucky none of his entrails had been damaged.

Same deal with his leg. The first weeks after the battle with Kira, he couldn’t even walk or support himself on his right leg. He had needed crutches for nearly two months. And that’s not to speak of his damaged shoulder, second-degree burns, and loss of blood. 

He might have put on a brave face all throughout that fight, but the truth was, he was mere minutes from collapsing towards the end of it. That fight with Kira had put him closer to death than any other battle he had been in.

”Oi, Josuke, something wrong?” came the voice of Okuyasu. ”You look kinda pale there.” Josuke realized he had nearly stopped walking, lost in his thoughts. Now both Okuyasu and Koichi looked at him with worried expressions.

”Nah, I’m fine!” Josuke assured them. ”Just got lost in thoughts, you know?” Okuyasu immediately broke into one of his trademark goofy grins. From his appearance, shortcut pompadour hair, rough facial features and parallel scars running down his face, you might think he was some criminal delinquent. While you wouldn’t be entirely wrong; Okuyasu was a delinquent alright, and not above breaking a law or two. 

”Heh, thinkin’ of all the fun we’re gonna have this summer, right?” he laughed, giving Josuke a pat on that back that was just a bit too hard.

But above that, if you gave him a chance, you would know that the dollar signs and ’billion’ written on his jacket sleeve wasn’t just for decoration. It was the worth of his heart, for his heart was pure gold! 

Koichi on the other hand still looked worried.

The silver-haired teen stood in stark contrast to Okuyasu. He was short with light hair, Okuyasy tall and dark haired. Koichi was quiet and reserved, Okuasy lacked any sort of social limits. Okuyasu was tall and rough whereas Koichi was short and babyfaced. 

”Was it about Kira again?” he asked, the worry seeping into his tone.

In the middle you had Josuke. A tall and handsome teen with an oversized pompadour and way too many pins on his school uniform. 

Together, the three of them had saved Morioh from many dangers. Including…

”No, no, nothing like that,” Josuke was quick to assure Koichi. Perhaps a bit too quick. ”I was just thinking about how it’s finally summer. Man, I thought it would never come.”

Yoshikage Kira. The man who had terrorized the town for god knows how many years. How many innocent women had met their end by his hand, all for is twisted needs? How many women had been blown up, leaving only a hand for Kira to do whatever he wanted with?

Whatever the answer was, it was too way many. 

But they had stopped him. He, Okuyasu, Koichi, Jotaro, and Hayato. Heck, even that bastard Rohan had helped… a little. 

They had cornered Kira. They had beat his ass to a bloody pulp. He was dead now, his head crushed under the wheel of an ambulance. His soul had been dragged into hell. They had gotten him. He was gone forever and his victims avenged. 

Reimi, Shigechi, Aya, and all other killed by his hand could rest in peace now. 

So why then…

”Are you sure?” Josuke’s assurances hadn’t washed away that worried tone from Koichi’s voice. ”You don’t have nightmares still, do you?”

”Wha…? No!” Josuke exclaimed, sounding almost offended by the mere suggestion. ”Of course not! I haven’t had bad dreams since the first week in the hospital. That was like eight months ago. I sleep sound as a baby at night.”

Koichi didn’t look entirely convinced. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Okuyasu.

”Hey, cut it off Koichi. If Josuke says it’s nothing, then it is nothing.” He leaned forward and looked the shorter teen right in the eyes. ”You don’t think Josuke would go and lie to us about something like this, right?” he said, with a finger pointing scoldingly at Koichi.

”N-no,” Koichi muttered. ”I just thought… nah, forget it. Let’s just go over to Josuke’s place.”

The trio walked in an uncomfortable silence the rest of the way. Well, two of them anyway; Okuyasu went along, whistling and humming without a care in the world.

No, Josuke wouldn’t lie to his friends about this… actually, yes, he would lie about it. He already had, back when he was still in the hospital. The others had only known because one of the nurses told them. After that, he was forced to admit to having bad dreams. But this time it wasn’t a lie. He really didn’t have any bad dreams anymore. 

No, nothing so extreme. It was just that sometimes… he thought he could still see him. Yoshikage Kira and his stand Killer Queen. Pink, lifeless eyes overlapping with the murderer’s blue, a thumb rising into the air. A loud ’click’ and then the air would turn into fire.

Today was not going to be all that ’great’, huh?

xxXXxx

Jotaro Kujo was many things. A doctor in marine biology, feared stand user and unable to smalltalk. He had traveled all over the world, learned three new languages yet the art of holding a completely meaningless conversation eluded him. 

Such as now. He was sitting in the kitchen of the Higashikata residence. In front of him sat Tomoko Higashikata. Occasionally she would take a sip of coffee, most likely lukewarm by now. 

While he would rather die than admit it, Jotaro always felt awkward in these type of situations. And if he felt awkward, he could only imagine what the other person must feel. Now, Jotaro wasn’t the one to feel guilt over matters like these, but still. That pressure of having to say something lest he comes off as detached and uncaring was not a positive one. 

Rarely would anyone say that the sound of three chatting teenagers bustling in through the door was a heaven send. In this case, though, it might as well be the answer to his prayers. Purely metaphorical mind you; Jotaru Kujo did not pray, no matter what any gods might claim.

”Hey, mom, what’s up with the car outs…” Josuke stopped in the middle of the sentence as the answer sat before him.

”Josuke,” Jotaro said, giving his uncle a slight nod, before turning back to Tomoko. ”Miss Higashikata, would you mind leaving? I wish to talk to Josuke and his friends in private.”

”How come?”

Silence again. Thankfully, not the awkward one. No, this silence was one Jotaro was much more comfortable with. The silence of two people having a battle of will.

The two adults in the room stared at each other. Tomoko had been suspicious of Jotaro ever since Josuke got hurt in the battle against Kira. She didn’t know anything about stands or the serial killer. Only that Jotaro had suddenly appeared one day, spent days on end with Josuke and then one day, her baby boy had nearly been blown to smithereens. Jotaro didn’t blame her.

He sighed. Tomoko may not look like it, but she had a will of steel that could rival his own.

”Yare yare… fine.” He abruptly stood up and turned to the three teens starring in awe at the display. ”Come, we’ll go somewhere else.”

Tomoko groaned loudly.

”Fine,” she hissed. ”You can stay here.” She shot a glare that could kill small animals at Jotaro. ”But you better not make any trouble, or else…” And with that, Tomoko left the kitchen.

Jotaro was always fascinated by how women could make their very footstep scream ’annoyance’ or ’anger.’ He wasn’t the best at reading emotions, but he would never mistake a woman’s angered footsteps for anything else.

”Yare yare…” he muttered once again under his breath. 

”Oi, Jotaro, what’s all this about?” Josuke asked with the slightest of edges in his voice. The boy was quite protective of his mother and even Jotaro wouldn’t be safe against that protective instinct. 

”Sorry for showing up at such a short notice,” Jotaro said. ”But time is of essence. The world is in grave danger.”

xxXXxx 

”Okay, so let me get this straight,” Okuyasu said. ”A vampire has escaped from the Speedwagon Foundation with three stand arrows and a mask to make more vampires with… and you need our help to beat him?” 

”Santana isn’t technically a vampire, but yeah, that about sums it up.” Jotaro shifted in his seat while muttering a quick ’yare yare.’ 

He had tried to explain the whole situation as well as he could, but it was not easy. Had it been just another stand user and arrow, it would be fairly easy. But ad the stone mask and Santana into the mix and the already surreal story becomes abstract. Frankly, Jotaro was surprised he was as sane as he was considering the life he was leading.

”What’s important is that he is dangerous, even without the stone mask or arrows on his side.” He made a pause and looked at the three teenagers in front of him. He knew they were brave and could hold their own in a fight. still, this did weigh on him. Jotaro wasn’t the most open and caring person in the world, but sure as hell wasn’t going to intentionally put anyone, especially not family in the line of fire. Unless he had to.

”With them, he is a threat to the entire world as we know it.” One by one, he looked them all straight in the eyes. ”I'm not asking you for this lightly. Death is a real possibility.” 

These boys had already faced dangers no one should have to, and they had overcome them. Koichi, in particular, had grown much. On some level, Jotaro felt proud of him. Standing up to the nigh inhuman monster that was Yoshikage Kira, who had gotten the better of Jotaro himself. 

”If you say no, I won’t judge. It’s your choice to make.”

It didn’t take Josuke three seconds.

”Of course I'll come!” he said a little too cheerfully for Jotaro’s taste. 

”Count me in too,” said Okuyasu. ”I’m sure as hell ain’t gonna let you fight this thing alone. ’Sides, wherever Josuke goes, I go too.”

Of course, Jotaro hadn’t expected any other result. Throwing themselves at supernatural dangers were practically their modus operandi. 

"I'll come too.”

There was a certain tension in the air as Koichi spoke up. 

Jotaro, Josuke, Okuyasu… they were all fighters. Koichi was not. They didn't doubt he was brave enough to fight a thousand-year-old super vampire. When push comes to shove, the little guy would certainly stand up to the task. But he was no fighter. Out of all the teenagers, Jotaro felt the most guilt over bringing him. 

”Um… are you sure you want to come.” Josuke scratched the back of his head while avoiding eye contact. For a second, Koichi looked uncertain. For a second. Then his eyes filled again with the determination he had shown in the past.

”Yes, I'm absolutely certain," he said, the steel in his voice as grey as his hair. 

”Then it's settled.” Jotaro abruptly stood up. ”If Koichi says he'll come with us, he’ll come. It’s his decision.” He then began walking out of the house. ”Josuke, go pack some clothes and other necessities. Okuyasu, you do the same. Kochi, you come with me. I'll drive you to your house to get what you need.”

No, Koichi was not a fighter. However, paired with another stand user, he made for good support. Even if temporarily, his Echoes could stop almost anyone dead in their tracks. And in a stand battle, a second could make the difference between life and death.

”This is just ’great,’” Josuke muttered as soon as he though Jotaro couldn’t hear him. ”So much for summer break.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posted this alongside ch. 1.1. I have ch. 2.1 and ch. 2.2 already written, but I'll probably wait for them until tomorrow or a couple of days. For once, I'd like to keep ahead, and the coming week of school is looking to be a stressful one.
> 
> So until next time, take care of the planet Earth, and remember that anything can happen in space!
> 
> Edit: It seems I'm having trouble with the notes at the beginning and end of the chapters. For some reason, it would show the note from the previous chapter on this one, and when I tried to edit, I ended up with the same notes twice in a row... ugh, I'm still new to this site


	3. Crazy, Noisy, Beach Town, Act 1

Chapter 2: Crazy, Noisy Beach Town, Act 1

Beach City. A small vacation town full of colorful and unique personalities. Located on a beautiful beach that gave it its name, it was quite the nice spot for spending a week or so of your summer holiday. Indeed, many critics had praised the town for its beautiful scenery. The turquoise sky meeting the dark blue sea, the golden beach, green hilltops and a lush forest nearby; could there be any other city as beautiful as this one?

There was only one problem. The monster attacks.

What a tragedy! Such a wonderful city, assaulted and ravaged by unholy, unnatural monstrosities. Such a shame.

Thankfully, the town was not without protection. Beach City had its own guardians; the group known as the Crystal Gems! They always save the day, if you think they can’t… they always find a way.

Today was no different. After all, what is an enormous beast covered in spikes and wild hair to the guardians of the Earth? A minor inconvenience, that’s what. It was such a trivial challenge, that they took the time for some field training for their newest recruit and only full human, Connie Maheswaran. 

xxXXxx 

”Go Connie!” yelled Amethyst. 

”Yeah, you can do it!” Steven joined in cheering on his best friend.

The young girl was currently facing off against a corrupted gem. It had emerged from the waters just a few minutes ago and begun flailing wildly at anyone coming to close. It was another corrupted quartz, like the ones Jasper had caught so many of. She had most likely dropped one of them underwater. Once it reformed, it would have been confused and angry.

”On the defensive until you find an opening…” Pearl added some actual advice to the young girl. She and Garnet hovered around the corrupted gem, ready to intervene at a split-second's notice. ”…and then…”

”…attack swiftly and without hesitation!” Connie finished her mentor's sentence. Any other twelve-soon-to-be-thirteen-year-old girl might have found themselves overwhelmed in this situation. Not many people wouldn’t. Fighting alien monsters alongside other aliens with a sword taller than herself?

That’s what she called ’Training Tuesday.’

The huge monster lunged at Connie, who simply jumped out of the way. The monster may be bigger and stronger than her, but its movements were simple. Simple and predictable, sluggish almost. No match for the smaller and faster human. 

The monster came to a stop in the sand, momentarily confused. As it turned around to face her again, Connie saw her opening. With a mighty roar, she sprang forward, sword aimed for the corrupted gem’s chest.

Its eyes were obscured by its mane of hair, but one could imagine the dumbfounded look in the gem monster’s eyes as it found a large pink sword lodged in its chest. 

A loud boom sounded through the beach as the corrupted gem poofed into a cloud of smoke, leaving only a gemstone, which Connie caught in the air. 

”Well done, Connie!” Pearl said. ”That was beautifully handled. You exceed my expectations yet again”

”Wo-hoo!” Steven shouted, he and Amethyst doing a small dance in celebration. Connie beamed with pride and tossed the gemstone to Garnet. In one swift motion, the fusion caught it, bubbled and sent it away. The motion ended with her giving Connie a thumbs up.

So Pearl, what are we going to do now?” Steven asked. Normally he and Connie would spend Training Tuesday battling Holo-Pearls, either as a duo or as Stevonnie. The corrupted gem had emerged suddenly, and they had taken the opportunity for some ’training.’ 

Pearl looked thoughtful for a moment, considering all factors. She glanced at the sun in the sky, making an estimate of the time. Around two-thirty.

”I think that’s enough for today,” she said after a while. ”You get the rest of the day to do whatever you want. But you better be sure we’ll extend the session on Friday,” she said with what was supposed to be a stern look. She didn’t do it very convincingly. 

xxXXxx

Said and done; the group split up from there. Amethyst and Garnet headed back to the temple. Amethyst said she had some cans of cooking oil lying around she had planned on getting to and Garnet… was off to do whatever Garnet did by herself.

Meanwhile, Steven and Connie were going to Funland to celebrate Connie’s victory against the corrupted gem. Mr. Smiley and Mr. Frowney had a new setup for the House of Mirrors that they both looked forward to seeing.

The two of them walked happily down the boardwalk talking about everything between heaven and earth, nothing and everything. It wasn’t until they actually reached the entrance to Funland that Steven realized something.

”Hey Connie, why did you bring the sword?”

Connie’s eyes widened. Indeed, now that Steven mentioned it, she did have the weight of Rose’s sword on her back. By now it was so familiar that she didn’t even realize it was there. Like how she sometimes forgot she was carrying a backpack to school; she had gotten so used to it being there, that it just… disappeared from her thoughts. 

”Aw, shoot! I totally forgot about it.” She facepalmed at her own absentmindedness. ”Should I go back and leave it at the temple?” Steven shrugged.

”Nah, I think it’s okay if you bring it.”

”Steven! You can’t just bring swords to amusement parks!”

”Weeeeell…” Steven grinned, mischief in his voice. ”…there’s technically no rules against it. I know, I’ve read them all. Plus, I don’t think Mr. Smiley or Mr. Frowney will mind all that much. Mr. Smiley knows you’re the responsible one.” 

Connie hesitated for a moment. Sure, there were technically no rules saying she couldn’t bring the sword… but that was still walking on thin ice. On the other hand, Beach City was not like other towns. Here, some of the rules went out of the window. And then they blew away in the breeze, never to be seen again. That, or a seagull, corrupted gem monster or Amethyst ate it.

In the big picture of things, a girl carrying a sword to the amusement park was no biggie. 

”Besides, doesn’t Pearl always tell you to be ready at all times? Constant vigilance, and all that?” Steven added.

Connie gave a little laugh.

”Heh, you’re right. Typical me, getting worried about small things.” 

”Hello kids,” came said a glum voice. Mr. Frowney, seemingly from out of nowhere, approached the two youngsters. ”Hi, Steven. Is that a sword the young lady is carrying?”

”Yes, it is,” Steven said cheerfully. ”She just got done defeating a giant monster and forgot to leave it in the temple. Is it okay if she brings it?”

Undecipherable was Mr. Frowney’s thoughts.

”Sure,” he said and shrugged.”Are you here to check out the new setup for the mirror house? Harold has been very excited about it.”

”You know it,” Steven said, his intense happy-go-lucky attitude clashing against Mr. Frowney’s. 

”Then don’t let me stop you. Go have fun.” As if the thought of ”fun” triggered some old emotional baggage, Mr. Frowney let out a heavy sigh before withdrawing back into the shadows from which he briefly emerged. 

’What a strange man,’ Connie thought to herself. Though she supposed she wasn’t all that ’normal’ either. After, who of the two was carrying the giant sword on their back? Yeah, Connie didn’t get to call anyone else weird. Seriously, she had seen surrealist paintings that made more sense than her universe.

This thought was soon drowned out of her mind, as the two youngsters finally got to the House of Mirrors. 

Say, have you ever placed two mirrors face-to-face and looked in between them? At the right angles, the reflection is caught in such a way, that you essentially see an infinite number of yourself in the mirrors. Now imagine that for an entire room of that.

The renovation of the mirror house was fairly extensive, in comparison to the size of the business. The house had previously been essentially a large room with simple walls creating a maze-like structure. The walls had been decorated with convex and concave mirrors that distorted a person’s reflection. 

The house had now been divided into two larger sections or rooms. The first room had every wall clad in mirrors. At all angels, aside from the tow door at each side of the room, you would see your own reflection, and your reflection’s reflection, and that reflection’s reflection…

It was mind-boggling, to say the least. At all sides, Connie saw herself and Steven. And they were just three people in there, Connie, Steven and some bored-looking teenager leaning against one of the mirror walls. Imagine what it would be like if they were a few more, four or six perhaps. 

Now that would have been even more disorienting.

Steven laughed and did a silly pose, gleefully observing the effect from every angle he could. Connie soon joined in on the fun. They both tried on several poses, competing in who could do the silliest one.

They had so much fun, that they barely even noticed the teenaged boy walking up behind them. What they did notice was his mirror image, and his bright blue eyes staring directly at them.

And then everything went black as the world faded away.

xxXXxx

[Connie Maheswaran]  
Friend and ally to the Crystal Gems. Shares a strong bond with Steven.

Weapon(s): Rose’s Sword-a pink straight-bladed saber. Extremely sharp, capable of slicing through a gems body with ease. Can not cut through gemstones.

Notable Powers and Abilities  
•Swordsmanship-Connie is an expert sword fighter.  
•Hand-to-hand-Has some basic training in martial arts.  
•Intelligence-Considerable intellect for her age, a quick learner and knowledgeable in a wide range of subjects. Mastered sword fighting in a few weeks. 

Stats:  
Destructive Power: C (with Rose’s sword)  
Speed: C  
Stamina: C  
Durability: D  
Skill: B  
Development Potential: A

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun-dun-duun!
> 
> Let's play a game, shall we? I call it 'what's that stand?' Pretty simple rules; all you have to do is guess what the stand introduced in the chapter is called and write it in the comments. If you win you get... a point?
> 
> This is not at all a scheme to make people comment on my story in order to soothe my inferiority complex. That would be tacky. Also be sure to check out all my other stories on this site, and on Fanfiction.net. please...
> 
> I'll release the next chapter on either Wednesday or Friday I think. It depends on how school goes, and how much time I can dedicate to write. Which is probably not too much, sadly. But, we have a leave next week over Easter, so I might have more time to focus on this project then.
> 
> Until then, take care of the planet Earth, and remember that anything can happen in space!


	4. Crazy, Noisy, Beach Town, Act 2

Chapter 2: Crazy, Noisy Beach Town, Act 2

Six thousand years. In perspective, what is that? To a human, that is a ridiculously long time. Japan has the highest general life expectancy in the world, with an estimated 83 years on the Earth. That’s just over one percent of 6 000 years.

To the universe, 6 000 years is nothing. A blink of the eye? Barely. Human scientists estimate the universe's age to be around 13 .8 billion years. 6 000 years is such a short period of time, that the author doesn’t even care to figure out how to properly put it into words.

For a gem, it was a bit more complicated. It was a pretty long time for sure. But at the same time, it really wasn’t. A short-lived organic will have a hard time understanding. Think of the expression ”time moves fast when you’re having fun.” The same is true for gems but in the opposite. The exciting years seem to slow down and are perceived as a human would. A thousand boring years pass like a bad week.

Their perception of time depends on the conditions surrounding them.

In that respect, gems might not be so different from squishy, short-lived, organic humans after all.

The last few years had moved very slow for Pearl. Slower than they had since the war. It was first now that she realized just how long she had been on Earth. Six thousand years. Entire civilizations had risen and fallen in that time. She had seen it happen first hand. To her, Rome had been built overnight. And it had crumbled two days later.

Six thousand years, Pearl had spent on this planet. She had fought for centuries in a war for the planet's safety. To protect the plants, and animals, and all other life. Including humans. The closest thing this planet had to an intelligent form of life.

How many of those years had she spent actually interacting with humans?

Almost none.

She had fought for them, and never once considered interacting with them on her own volition. Either Rose had coerced her into talking with one, or she had been forced to by circumstances beyond her control. Now her life was full of humans. Greg, Connie, Steven… and others. And they were all wonderful people, smart, funny and caring.

In hindsight, she had been a fool not to give humanity a chance.

As it stood now, she was about six thousand years behind in human history, traditions, and social interactions. As of lately, that posed a huge problem. She had recently encountered… someone that made it necessary she at least know how to hold a conversation. Amongst other things. 

So, Pearl now had the monumental task of learning how to properly talk with humans in front of her. This posed many problems. After spending so many years hidden away in the temple, she couldn’t very well just walk up to the first human she saw and… interact. Steven’s attempts to better integrate the Crystal Gems had gone less than stellar. Every single time.

No, that route would probably end in disaster. Thankfully, Pearl did know another human who was reasonably well adjusted. One that was glad to help and wouldn’t judge.

In a way, she supposed it was ironic. No less than twenty minutes ago, she had been busy training Connie, a human, in the art of gem combat. Now, she was on her way be trained in the art of social interaction by a human, Greg Universe.

Today’s lesson was an important one; phone calls.

xxXXxx

One second, Connie stood in a brightly lit room of mirrors with Steven at her side. Now, she stood alone in the darkness. Not like every-lamp-turned-off-at-night kind of dark either. This darkness was absolute. The very air around her seemed to absorb every last ray of light. Not a single photon penetrated the veil of darkness.

Connie had often been alone. She had often felt lonely, disconnected from other people. An invisible wall stood between her and the rest of the world.

This was a thousand time worse than that.

”S-Steven,” she cried out, heavy despair in her voice.

Once upon a time, her biggest nightmare was dying without ever making a friend. Now, her biggest nightmare was to lose them.

”Connie!” Steven’s voice cut through the suffocating darkness like a warm summer breeze through Antartica. ”Connie, what happened, where are you?”

”I-I…” she blinked away the tears welling up in her eyes. ”I don’t know… everything just went dark and…” she was cut off by a scream. Steven screamed in fear and alarm.

A new voice spoke up.

”Quiet down, will ya!” it hissed. ”I’m in a bad mood, so I’d suggest you hand over any money you’ve got quicker than quick.”

”Wha-what are you?” Steven whimpered so weakly, Connie could barely hear him. What she did hear was the ten’s annoyed response.

”None of your beeswax! Just hand over anything valuable you have, and you won’t get hurt.”

During the entire exchange, Connie was panicking. She couldn’t see anything. Not Steven, not the teen, not whatever had scarred Steven so. She could only listen as the stranger threatened her best friend, and she could do nothing. In a way, that made it worse. If she could just see, she might be able to do something. But instead, she was cursed to only listen, listen as Steven gasped in horror of whatever, whatever…

Hold on.

She could hear just fine. In fact, Connie heard Steven as clearly as if he was still standing beside her. She could hear his heavy, uneven breath. She could practically feel Steven’s presence beside her. Just where he had been standing when he disappeared.

Connie looked down at her hands. She saw them. Not just as silhouettes as one would expect. She saw them as well as she did in the bright mirror room. She could even see the shadows her fingers made on her palms.

She turned her head up, to where the roof should be. She starred for a few seconds, before shutting her eyes. Green and blue imprints of light danced on the inside of her eyelids like northern lights.

She heard the faint sound of Steven summoning his shield.

That confirmed it.

It was an illusion. She had not been taken away, nor had Steven. The room hadn’t even really gone dark. It was nothing more than a trick. And once you knew the trick, it was easy to see through. Connie closed her eyes. They were useless anyway. All she needed was her ears to listen. Listen, wait for an opening…

”Hyaa!” Steven yelled. It was almost immediately followed by the sound of a mirror shattering into a thousand pieces. He must have thrown his shield at the mirror. Probably through another illusion.

”What the actual fu-?”

…and then attack swiftly without hesitation!

Connie rushed forward toward the source of the voice With all the strength the young girl could muster, she tackled the teen. The two of them crashed onto the floor in a rather undignified pile of limbs.

”Steven!” Connie called out. ”it’s just an illusion! He-he made it somehow.”

If there was a response, she didn’t hear it. Her hearing might have been what lead her to the enemy, but now she relied fully on touch. She and the teen wrestled on the floor. He was several years older and a lot heavier. Yet all his attempts to get the little girl off him were fruitless. Connie was high on adrenaline, her sense honed by hours upon hours of training and she was as ferocious as a wild animal.

She clawed and punched at the young man for all she was worth… and that was not little.

How long did they lie there on the floor in a tangled mess of limbs and curses? Ten seconds? Twenty? It might as well have been an hour before Connie felt two chubby, but inhumanly strong arms grab the teen and locking him in a tight bear hug.

She could actually hear the teen wheeze as if the air was squeezed out of him.

It probably was. Steven may not look like it, but the guy was almost freakishly strong. Certainly stronger than some fairly scrawny looking teenager.

Once Steven eased his grip somewhat, the would-be-mugger spent a solid two minutes swearing, kicking and threatening the two kids. 

The threats were especially colorful; enormous monsters and beasts would appear before Steven and Connie’s eyes. Enormous eldritch creatures, with teeth and claws as big as Rose’s sword, drooling entire bathtubs worth of saliva. Tentacles, spikes and glowing red eyes covered several places where they had no business being. Monsters that would give H. R. Giger nightmares appeared before their eyes.

But that’s all they did. The monsters would appear out of nowhere… and then do nothing. What else could they do? They were as imaginary as the monsters in a children’s closet. Nothing more than illusions, tricks on the mind.

Tricks may be for kids, but these two had already seen through the teen’s cheap conjurings.

Eventually, he gave up and dropped the illusions. The monsters disappeared and light returned to Connie. Or rather, she could once again perceive it normally. After all, the teen’s illusions had only made her think it was dark, rather than actually making it dark.

Once all the fake images were gone, they were left with a rather sad sight. A larger portion of the mirror on the wall was shattered by Steven’s shield. Mr. Smiley and Mr. Frowney were not going to be happy about this.

Also, the would-be-mugger looked pretty bad too. The young man was held tightly in place by a kid much younger and smaller than him. A bruise was forming on his cheek, made by another kid much younger and smaller than him. Add that to his scrawny body, oily hair, weak facial structure and generally unthreatening image, and he looked about as pathetic as he really was. And no tricks would hide that fact.

xxXXxx

You know, Pearl really didn’t have any business being as nervous as she was. She, a lowly pearl, had rebelled against the mightiest intergalactic empire this side of the galaxy. She had done so without hesitation. Not a single shred of doubt had been on her mind as she betrayed Homeworld. She had been afraid, of course. But nothing she had ever faced had made her waver in her dedication.

So why was the thought of a phone call making her feel nauseous? 

Pearl had spent the last ten or fifteen minutes pacing back and forth along the boardwalk. In her hands, she held a brand new cellphone, courtesy of Greg. While neither he nor Pearl knew was experts in human tech, he had helped her with the basics. He was now confident that the small device would be capable of connecting to another wireless audio transmitter device.

And so, he had advised Pearl to take a minute to mentally prepare, enter the desired phone number and then press ”call.” pearl had agreed that it was a sound plan; hesitation would only prolong the uncertainty. 

Turns out she was completely right. That minute had seemingly stretched out to six times the intended length. In that time, she had walked up and down the boardwalk seven times, checked to make sure she had entered the right number sixteen times and practiced at least nineteen different greetings.

Some part of her knew she was being silly. ’Here you have an opportunity to move forward,’ it said. ’Stop pacing about, and just press that call-button,’ it said.

’Shut up!’ said another part of her. ’This was a bad idea from the very start. It’s useless, you should just give up. Let’s go home and forget this whole thing.’

Both of them made good points. 

They were not the only ones. Though it didn’t say anything, it was still there at the back of her mind. It had been there for so long, Pearl didn’t even take notice of it half of the time. But she had more and more now. It was the voice that answered the question ’what would Rose do?’

’She would tell you to trust your instincts and do whatever makes you happy,’ it said.

Pearl pressed ’call.’

And nearly dropped the phone at the sharp tone the device produced.Unbeknownst to her and Greg, they had accidentally turned on the speaker function. Pearl found herself frantically trying to maneuver the phone’s interface to turn it off. But to no avail; as she pressed every button she could find, a click could be heard, and then a voice.

”Hello?”

”Uha! Um, hello! It’s me. Or, well, you might not remember me, but, um… we met at that concert a while back, and you gave me your phone number, and I’m really sorry haven’t called earlier but things have been busy.”

Later, when she got time to objectively evaluate this call, Pearl realized it had actually gone better than she thought it would.

”Oh. You’re that girl from the Mike Krol concert, right? You asked me about my hair.”

”Yeah, that’s me,” Pearl said weakly. This was a bad idea. ”I… I just thought that… since you gave me your number and all, that maybe… I don’t know.” Yep. Bad ideas sounded like this.

”That sounds like a great idea. I’d love to meet sometime.”

Pearl blinked, one, two, three times.

”I’m out of state at the moment (family business, you know how it is…), but I’ll be back in a few days. Hey, I hear there’s a show coming up this Saturday with some local band that looks pretty cool. Maybe we can meet there?”

This was a surprise. Pearl was sure her rambling would have scared of pretty much anyone.

”Yes, yes that sounds lovely,” Pearl was quick to respond. 

”Perfect!” said the woman on the other end. ”I’ve gotta go now, but I’ll see you on Saturday then. Just call if anything comes up.”

”Yeah… see you on Saturday!” Pearl made a mental note to clear her schedule on Saturday. And Friday. And Sunday.

”Golden!” It was weird, Pearl could have sword she actually heard the woman smile, as little sense as that did. ”Bye then.”

”Bye.” And then it was over. Pearl let out a deep sigh of relief. Now, that wasn’t so dangerous, was it? Really, she needed to get her act together and stop worrying about every little thing. How silly she had been!

Pearl felt a surge of confidence and energy surging through her entire being. 

”Aw, tastes like diabetes.”

And then she felt a surge of primitive surprise and shock through her entire being, as a person behind her suddenly spoke up. She nearly dropped the phone for the second time that day. She had been so focused on the phone call, she hadn’t noticed someone walking up behind her.

She spun around, and came face to face with… herself? No, it was a young human woman. Pearl had just seen her own reflection in the woman’s dark sunglasses.

”Heh, sorry, I didn’t mean to scare ya,” she said. ”I just happened to overhear your call, I thought it sounded really sweet.”

She had shoulder-length, wavy black hair, and wore a simple white jacket. She was also making Pearl feel very uncomfortable. She wasn’t comfortable with her own team, her family to let hem listen. That went double for strangers.

While Greg has assured her she was making great progress, she had yet to learn how to tell humans to go away in a polite way. She decided to go with the second best alternative, and just walk away. She turned away to do just that.

And then she stopped.

”Hey, what’s with the cold shoulder? You’re not a robot… are ya?”

Pearl couldn’t move at all.

xxXXxx

[??? ???]  
A stranger that recently appeared in Beach City. 

Notable Powers and Abilities  
•Illusions-Can create illusions of anything he wants. The full extent and origin of this power are unknown.

Stats  
Destructive Power:?  
Speed:?  
Stamina:?  
Durability:?  
Skill:?  
Development Potential:?

Status: Defeated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: "Okay, I'll go to bed soon, just gotta write this scene while it's fresh in my mind. It's a short one, so it won't take too long."  
> Also me: *spends an hour writing Pearl angsting over a phone call*
> 
> But seriously, phone calls are the worst.
> 
> Our first taste of a sort-of stand battle in this act. A rather simple one, but hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? I'm not gonna go throwing full power DIO with Za Warudo and road rollers on our poor heroes the first thing I do. 
> 
> In other news, you can expect the next act soon, maybe Friday, no later than Sunday. It will be the third and final act of Chapter 2: Crazy, Noisy Beach Town! How will Pearl handle this strange woman and her unknown power? Find out, next time on JoJo and the Crystal Gems (and Steven!).
> 
> But until then, take care of the planet Earth, and remember that anything can happen in space.
> 
> EDIT: Shout-out to Koiibutt over on FF.net for picking up on my math mistake at the beginning of this chapter. 83 is not 13% of 6 000, but closer to 1.38%... Three years in natural science, with a total of five math courses, ladies and gentlemen.


	5. Crazy, Noisy, Beach Town, Act 3

Chapter 2: Crazy, noisy Beach Town, Act 3

Tell me, do you believe in fate? Do you believe everything in this world happens for a reason, that there is something behind all that is? A higher power that orchestrates everything, from the movement of stars and galaxies to the humans and ants of Earth. Some call it god, some call it destiny, the influence of the stars. The arrow of fate.

Gems have an interesting relationship with the concept of fate. Each gem is made with a purpose programmed into her very core. Peridots are technicians and kindergartners, a lapis lazuli terraforms planets, quartzes are soldiers, moonstones tacticians, pearls servants.

Gems are made with a purpose, one that they know instinctively upon emerging from the ground. In a way, gems are born with their fates already laid out before them. All gems serve the Diamond Authority and they do what they are made for.

Strangely enough, many who believe in fate will also tell you that it’s up to you to decide that fate. As contradictory as that is, it does apply to gems in a degree. If the rebellion of Rose Quartz taught us anything, it’s that gems not necessarily conform to their intended purpose. They can take control of their own fate.

These pondering may seem more suited for a beginners course in popular philosophy, but there is a purpose behind them. These words have a reason for being written, a predetermined fate.

You see, it would seem as ’fate’ was determined to take everything Pearl had built up and tear it down. Preferably, in the cruelest way possible.

She dedicates her life to Rose Quartz and to protect the Earth; Rose give up her life, just as Homeworld returns with a vengeance, and there is nothing they can do to stop them. 

She tries to protect Steven; he gets constantly put in danger, often by very enemies she swore to protect him from. He got taken away to Homeworld for crying out loud! Where was Pearl then? Back on Earth, completely useless.

She tries to move on from the past, move on from… Rose, and what happens? The very reality she is in bends itself out of order to stop her dead in her tracks.

What other explanation could there be? 

”What’s the matter? You decided to stay?” said the stranger from behind Pearl. She had walked up on Pearl while she was talking on the phone and started bugging her. Pearl had tried to just walk away, but then… she couldn’t.

It was not that her body had been paralyzed, or that she was restrained in some way. No, it was more like… she just couldn’t move. She couldn’t do anything. Not walk, talk or even turn her head to look at the woman behind her. But it was more than that.

She couldn’t even consider doing anything

A hand snatched the phone still in her hand.

”Oh, looks brand new.” The voice was right behind Pearl now. Uncomfortably close. She could feel the woman’s breath in her neck. ”Say, you wouldn’t mind telling the passcode to this thing? It would really save me a lot of trouble.”

”The code is one-one-one-one,” Pearl said. She didn’t hesitate for a second. Not a moment did she try to resist. She couldn’t. She just couldn’t… her mind, it was… not working properly.

”Thank you,” the woman said, her voice dripping with false sweetness. ”You don’t happen to have anything else valuable on ya?”

”No.” She tried to do something, anything, but the thought wouldn’t form in her head. The moment she tried to decide to turn around, her thoughts would slow down and scatter into nothing. Her mind left empty, she had no choice but to comply with the woman’s demands.

The woman made a disappointed sound. She had slowly wandered around Pearl and was now appearing in her peripheral vision.

”You’re probably wondering what’s going on, right? Well, don’t worry sweetie, it’s not permanent.” She stood now in front of Pearl, hands on her hip, and a badly concealed sadistic smile on her lips. Pearl saw her own empty eyes staring back in the reflections of the stranger’s sunglasses. 

”I just removed your independence for a bit. Now, are you absolutely sure you don’t have anything else valuable on ya?”

”Yes,” Pearl said, her voice devoid of any emotions. Like a robot’s. That was probably a good comparison. Whatever the human woman had done, she had turned Pearl into a robot. A robot forced to follow whatever orders her creator made.

Like a pearl was supposed to.

Memories Pearl had long since tried to bury under the landslide of history were coming back. Memories of her time as a servant on Homeworld. It had been exactly like this. She didn’t have any thought of her own, no will of her own. She was an object that her master could do as she wished with.

Turns out she was still the same pearl as back then. 

”You absolutely sure?” the woman insisted. ”One hundred percent absolutely sure that you have nothing of monetary value on ya?”

”Yes.”

And yet…

(you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to)

Even back then, there had been light. Rose had entered Pearl’s life and turned it upside down. She had shown Pearl a world of possibilities, of freedom. She had made Pearl feel alive for the first time in her life. Together, the two had made the impossible.

(are you sure this is what you want?)

The small voice in the back of Pearl’s head was back, whispering Rose’s words in her ear. Yes! She couldn’t give up! Hadn’t the two of them faced despair and tragedy together so many time before? Surely, Pearl could do so herself.

”That’s funny, cause…” the woman reached out and lightly tapped Pearl’s gem. ”that looks pretty expensive to me. What even is it?”

”My gemstone,” Pearl was once again forced to answer. Indeed, she was still a prisoner in her own body. Still, she was a slave to this woman’s whims. But no longer did hopelessness cloud her mind. She was a Crystal Gem! Guardian of the Earth, the last defense against the most powerful empire in the known universe. She could not give up.

”Gemstone? Oh, like diamonds and stuff! So you were lying when you said you had nothing of value on ya. Shame on you, don’t you know? Lying is bad.” The woman laughed at, what Pear assumed was a joke. ”So what, you’re like into some freaky body modification stuff?”

”I don’t know what that is,” Pearl said. Her voice did not reveal it, but her mind was in full gear. The woman said she removed her independence… She could clearly still think, but not make decisions. Yes, that seemed to be what was happening. The question was, were there any loopholes?

(i believe in you)

No. There weren’t any loopholes or workarounds. This power was absolute.

”Really?” The woman frowned. ”Then what the he-?”

”Hey Pearl!” The woman nearly jumped in the air at Steven’s sudden shout. ”You’re not gonna believe this…”

The woman said a very bad word.

”Every time,” she muttered. ”Now I’ve got to deal with some kid too.” She glanced behind Pearl where Steven’s voice had come from. She shouldn’t have done that. Because the moment she was no longer focused on Pearl, the Crystal Gems fist connected with her face.

Unprepared at the sudden burst of violence, the woman was sent staggering backward, where she hit the back of her head on a signpost. She then proceeded to, in a very undignified way, fall flat on her butt.

”Wha… imposhibell,” the woman sputtered, a small trail of blood coming from her mouth. Yes, it did seem so, didn’t it? Her power was absolute. It would, without failure, render anyone unable to make their own decisions. Not in a thousand years should Pearl have been able to defy it on her own.

(protect steven for me… my pearl)

She hadn’t defied it on her own. She had simply remembered what someone else told her to do. And that person was far more important than the words of some random woman who thought she could do whatever she wanted to. Just because some power she had…

Pearl blinked as the realization hit her.

This human had powers. Or at least, some form of ability. An ability no human should have. Pearl may not be very knowledgeable about human customs and social behavior, but she was certain that there were no humans that possessed abilities like this.

This woman was no gem either. She didn’t recognize Pearl or even know what a gemstone was. And there were no gems with a power such as the one she had demonstrated.

Pearl didn’t have a spine, yet a chilling sensation traveled down it nonetheless.

She had once met something that looked human but wasn’t. It had deceived her, Garnet, and Amethyst. Even Rose had been tricked by its appearance. But hen it revealed its true colors as a monster. They, who had sworn to protect the Earth and all its life had been disgusted by it. Even Rose agreed with that the only thing that monster deserved was death.

She shook her head as if trying to shake the thoughts out of it. That was a long time ago. The monster was gone for good. She took one more good look at the woman, who was still on the ground, rubbing the back of her head. Her sunglasses sat askew, light blue eyes showing behind them.

No, this woman wasn’t a monster.

”Pearl!”

Pearl suddenly snapped back to reality as she heard Steven shout her name, from only a few meters away. He must have been worried when she didn’t answer him before… and maybe when she punched the woman if he saw that. She turned around to meet… an odd sight.

Steven was running towards her carrying while carrying another human hoisted above his head. Connie ran by his side, sword drawn and her eyes slightly narrowed, as if she expected an attack at any moment.

”Pearl!” Steven said slightly less loud as he came to a stop in front of her.Indeed, he was carrying a human in his arms. A fairly young one as far as Pearl could tell.

”Ma’am, is something wrong? You didn’t answer before, and…” Connie stopped as her attention was guided towards something behind Pearl.

It all happened very fast. The human in Steven’s arms, who had remained completely still up until this point, suddenly jolted back to life. He lifted his head and starred intensively at the thing behind Pearl.

The Crystal Gem spun around, ready to deal with the woman again. True enough, she stood back up, her sunglasses adjusted. One-third of a second, Pearl looked into her own reflection again, before everything went black around her. 

Steven yelped at the sudden motion of the teenager in his arms trying to wrestle free, while something pushed Pearl out of the way. She could feel the woman brushing past her. She heard the sound of Steven summoning his shield and Connie’s cry as she leaped into action. But the they stopped, just like she herself had done less than five minutes ago.

The two human strangers said some very bad words, and then all Pearl heard were running feet. Instinctively, she summoned her spear and prepared to throw it at one of the two sources of sound… but then she stopped. Bizarre powers or not, they were humans. she couldn’t hurt them.

She let her spear fade from existence. Fumbling through the darkness, she found the two children lying completely still and silent on the pavement.

”It’s okay,” she assured them. ”You can talk.” She tried to scoop them up into a comforting hug. Though she was fairly sure she got the wrong end of Connie somehow. Probably Steven too, but with him, it was harder to tell. ”Just tell me what happened.”

While she remained calm and tried to keep the two kids calm, truth to be told, Pearl was probably closer to a panic attack than she had been in thousands of years. 

xxXXxx

Alan Walker was having the worst day of his life. It’s one thing to be outsmarted and beaten up. Another to get outsmarted and beaten up by two kids. Now, it’s another f-ing thing to get outsmarted and beaten up by two kids, humiliated in front of his sister and then forced to run away like a rat from pest-control.

The only light in the situation was that she too had gotten a beating. She was still spitting red an hour later. That and curses. Lots of curses.

”What the hell was that?” she hissed. The first thing she said to him since they got in the car. 

”They saw through my illusions,” Alan muttered. ”What’s your excuse?” This got him a killing glare.

”Shut up!” she spat, alongside some more blood-red spit.

”That’s what you get for asking,” Alan said under his breath, just low enough so that she wouldn’t hear.

For another ten minutes, the only sound heard was the car engine and faint chatter from the radio.

Finally, Marina spoke up.

”Seriously though, what was that?” It’s not just me, is it? You saw it too, right? Those people were… off.”

…

”Yeah,” Alan said after a while.

”That round kid carried you in his arms like it was nothing.”

”The pale one broke your ability.”

”Was that a sword the girl was carrying? Did you see how big it was?”

Now, the two of them were muggers. Muggers with supernatural powers. They traveled the country (in stolen cars), looking for people to rob. Preferably somewhere with mirrors for Alan. Let’s just say this wasn’t his first time spending the day in a mirror house.

Only once had they encountered another person with a power like theirs. He was probably the one who had given them the most thorough beating to boot. But even through all the pain from a hundred cut marks, they both remembered what he had told them.

”Stand users attract each other. That and trouble.”

”Let’s stay away from here from now on, okay?” Alan said. For once, his sister agreed.

xxXXxx

[Alan Walker]  
A traveling mugger with a stand power. Doesn’t care too much about his appearance even though he hangs around mirrors all day.

Stand: Faded

Appearance: N/A, bound type stand.

Notable Powers and Abilities  
•Illusion-Faded lives inside the user’s eye. The user can bind it to any reflective surface he looks directly at. Faded can the enter the eyes of up to three people. Once in their eyes, the user can create illusions that only they can perceive. Requires some concentration to rake appropriate effect. A black void is the easiest illusion to make and requires almost no concentration. Hearing, smell, touch, etc are unaffected.

Stats  
Destructive Power: N/A  
Speed: A  
Range: B (as long as the user can see)  
Durability: A (bound type, not affected by damage)  
Precision: A  
Development Potential: B

Status: Retired

[Marina D. Walker]  
The older of the Walker siblings. Enjoys the superiority her stand gives her over others.

Stand: Not a Robot

Appearance: A bright red humanoid covered in diamonds and other precious stones.

Notable Powers and Abilities  
•Independence Removal-NaR can with a touch remove someone’s independence, their ability to make decisions on their own. The victim becomes a puppet or slave to whoever tells them what to do. This power can be bypassed if someone with more authority over the victim than the user has left an order contradicting the one the victim receives from the user.  


Stats  
Destructive Power: C  
Speed: C  
Range: D (once activated, ability range is 100 meters)  
Durability: D  
Precision: B  
Development Potential: A

Status: Retired

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thusly, Act 3 wraps up chapter 2. I hope it wasn't complete S-H-I-T.
> 
> he, he, stand joke
> 
> The stand user siblings are, of course, Alan Walker, based on the music producer Alan Walker and his hit song 'Faded.' Marina D. Walker and her stand are based on the singer 'Marina and the Diamonds' and her song 'I am Not a Robot.' 
> 
> Fun Fact: I actually discovered Marina and the Diamonds' I am Not a Robot through this animatic by Sullen Highstar:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYPB0oluDSQ
> 
> It is also what inspired me to pit it against Pearl in particular.
> 
> The next chapter is looking to be a lot shorter than previous ones, only one relatively short act. As for when it'll be released... Monday maybe? Again, depends on my progress on the next chapter after it. So far, I'm doing a heck of a lot better than I thought I could. The only downside is that, even on a holiday, staying up to write until 23:00 is not sustainable in the long run, so... yeah, gotta figure out how to fix my broken biological clock.
> 
> But please, don't worry! These are my problems to consider, not yours. Just you stay tuned for the next installment in JoJo and the Crystal Gems (and Steven!).
> 
> In the meantime, take care of the planet Earth, and remember that anything can happen in space.


	6. Keep Morioh City Weird

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was thinking of making an April's fool chapter. Something that would start all super-serious but then dissolve into super-silliness.
> 
> But that sounded like a lot of work. So here, have the next chapter instead.

Chapter 3: Keep Morioh City Weird

Hayato Kawajiri was not a normal kid, a fact he was fully aware of. Plenty of people at school had told him so. On some level, he did know it was weird to spy on his parents via video camera. He had realized he should probably stop. Heavens know what would happen if someone found out.

Of course, this was before his father got murdered and had his face stolen by a monster in human disguise. Then, his cameras had saved his, his mother’s, and many others’ lives. So he figured that it was okay.

On this particular day, one like many others, his thoughts were concentrated on the events that transpired just a year ago. The murderer Yoshikage Kira, a monster hiding in plain sight. The existence of stands, supernatural powers that redefined the word ’impossible.’ Bites the Dust, an invincible power. A battle of both wits and power between Kira and Josuke Higashikata.

He passed by the crossing where he had seen someone explode for the second time in his life. Even though he walked past it every day on his way home from school, it still sent shivers down his spine.

As miraculous the fact was that he survived the whole ordeal, it had left the boy even more paranoid then he was before. Josuke and the others had assured him that the town was safe now. Kira was gone, the stand arrow locked away, and all stand users either on their side or neutralized. But how can you be sure? He had thought that the town was safe as could be before as well. Then he got a time-looping bomb attached to him, and things spiraled out of control from there.

Which was why he nearly jumped out of his shoes as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

”Excuse me, could you help us?”

To Hayato’s credit, he didn’t scream. He just spun around to catch a glimpse of the attacker before he made a run for it. He stopped halfway through the motion as he came face to face with his ’attacker’ however. Instead of a menacing stand user, he found a not-very-threatening woman looking back at him. 

She was fairly tall, taller than Hayato’s own mom. She was smiling politely.

”Sorry to bother you, but do you mind if I ask a question?”

Hayato guessed she was a foreigner. She did speak with a slight accent and her clothing was really weird; a big cape over what looked like a skin-tight jumpsuit. That, and her skin was a light shade of blue.

”Um, sure, go ahead,” Hayato said carefully, wary of this stranger. She might not look very dangerous, but she could still be a stand user. Or a pedophile.

”Great!” she said, her smile broadening just a little. ”See, I’m looking for someone known as ’Josuke Higashikata.’ You don’t happen to know his place of residence?”

Nope, definitely a stand user. Just as Hayato had feared, there were more of them out there, and now they were coming to Morioh. His mind was working a hundred kilometers per hour to solve this problem. Obviously, he couldn’t tell them where Josuke was. No, he’d have to lie, and then call Josuke to warn him. Yes, that’s what he needed to do.

”N-no, I don’t know who that is.” His cursed himself using a very bad word on the inside. He had done his best to remain straight-faced, but his mask had cracked slightly. The woman seemed to have picked up on this. She tilted her head, in an almost bird-like manner.

”Really?” she asked, leaning just a bit closer. ”Are you absolutely sure you know nothing about Josuke Higashikata?”

A small drop of sweat ran down his face.

”No, never heard of him,” Hayato said, straight as a saluting soldier. The woman blinked, and the shrugged. She threw a quick glance over her shoulder, before reaching into her cape.

Hayato braced for impact. 

”Here,” the woman said. ”Have this banana.” Indeed, she had produced a banana from the inside of her cape. Hayato starred at it as if it would turn into a gun at any moment.

”Um…”

”I insist,” the woman said, putting the yellow fruit in his hands. ”Consider it a ’sorry’ for bothering you.” She turned away and began walking. ”Have a nice day,” she said while waving back at him. ”Come Toaster, this one too was a bust.”

It was then that Hayato noticed a second woman who had been hidden behind the blue one. She was short, only a bit taller than Hayato, and with a big afro shaped like a square. Her skin was deep red, and she had a red crystal grafted onto her forehead.

The young boy found himself staring at the two colorful strangers as they walked away, disappearing around a corner.

Once he was sure they were gone, he threw the banana to the side and began walking. His initial plan was to head directly to Josuke’s house, but he discarded that idea. If the two women were following him, he didn’t want to lead them directly to the person they were looking for. He needed to make sure he wasn’t being followed first.

He took a turn out on a larger and longer street, with few hiding places. He picked up the phone his mother had recently given to him. While making it look like he was simply walking and looking at his phone, he was using the screen a simple mirror to look around for the followers. The two women would be easy to spot, with their cape and square hair giving them unique silhouettes.

The following half an hour, he spent walking around the city, constantly looking back. He took turns, walked in circles, hid in crowds and snuck out the back door of shops. He never caught a single glance of the two strangers. He wasn’t sure if that made him feel any better or not.

The feeling was not helped by Josuke not answering his phone. Hayato had tried calling a fair dozen times, to no avail. It didn’t mean that Josuke was in danger; the teen had often complained about how often he forgot to charge his phone. Powerful as it was, Crazy Diamond couldn’t fix a discharged battery.

Despite the uneasy feeling in his gut, he decided to head over to Josuke’s house. He didn’t have the home number, but he did know where the house was. Keeping up the same tactic he had for the last thirty-five minutes, he made it over to the Higashikata residence.

Again, no sight of the women. Once, he thought he heard something, but it turned out to be a pedestrian muttering to himself.

The young man kept constant vigilance throughout his journey towards the house of the second strongest stand warrior he knew. Not even when he was only two meters from the door did he once relax. He had spent nearly as much if not more time looking backward than he had forward.

Not that it did him any good.

One and a half meter from the door, a pair of invisible arms grabbed ahold of him. An invisible hand, stronger than any human placed itself over his mouth to stop him from screaming. 

There was a small park-like arrangement close to the Higashikata household. There, he was taken by the invisible force. The bushes and trees would stop anyone from seeing… whatever was going to happen to him.

The two strange women sat there, waiting for him.

”Shame on you,” the blue woman scolded him. She held up the banana he had thrown to the side earlier. ”Throwing away good foods, and a present to boot. That’s not very nice.” She handed the fruit to the square haired one. She took it and proceeded to shove the entire thing in her mouth at once. She didn’t even peel it first.

”Now, you are a very perceptive little human, are you? Using that small communications device to look for followers; that’s pretty clever, I’ll admit.” The woman was still smiling, though it was slightly less pronounced now. 

”However…” she continued, as the red one kept chewing on the banana. ”…this does raise the question if you didn’t know something, like you said, why would you go to such lengths to make sure you weren’t followed? Could it be, perhaps, that you do know something? Something that you don’t want to tell us?” She scratched her chin as if considering something. ”What reason could there be for that? Maybe it’s because you know something very few other humans would know. Something that makes Josuke Higashikata special, something that would make him a target.”

Meanwhile, the red one had stopped chewing. She sat for a while with her cheeks stuffed full of banana. She made a quick glance over at the blue one, before spitting it out into one of the bushes.

Hayato could swear a chilly wind was blowing through the otherwise warm summer’s day.

”Now…” the woman said. She made a small gesture, and whatever was covering Hayato’s mouth let go of him. ”…tell me everything you know about stands.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, the mystery thickens! Who are these colorful women? 
> 
> Well, I mean, it’s pretty obvious they’re gems, the ruby kinda gives it away. But you don’t know who or what the blue one is, nor what her powers are! Or what her motives are. Or where she got that banana.
> 
> And yes, that was a reference to the best scene from part five. 
> 
> Fun Fact: The ruby was inspired by Toaster the Ruby from Toonfreak’s Aliens With Trapper Hats and its sequels. Be sure to go check that out if you’re up for more Steven Universe crossover fun. Don’t let the length scare you, it’s fairly easy to get through. 
> 
> You can find it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8387821/chapters/19215841
> 
> And, spoilers, this is not the last reference to that story you’re gonna be hearing, so if you wanna catch them all, better start reading. 
> 
> I have no idea when the next chapter will be dropping. I figure, with the rate I'm writing it as of now, I could aim for a new chapter/act every three days maybe? So Tuesday or Wednesday? I don't know, I'm really just making stuff as I go along.
> 
> But until the next, undefined time in the future that I update on, take care of the planet Earth, and remember that anything can happen in space!


	7. Here Comes A Thought

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, this chapter... marks an important first in this series: the first time I've been so unhappy with a chapter I've gone back and completely rewritten the entire thing. I think only a few sentences and the general structure carry over from the old version. And boy, it was needed. I swear half of the original was just Jotaro telling you (the reader) information you already know, without introducing anything new when it comes to the lore of this universe. And the other half... *shivers*
> 
> So please, enjoy this much-improved version of chapter 4.

Chapter 4: Here Comes a Thought

Jotaro was an experienced traveler. He had sailed across all the seven seas to study marine life with his work. More exciting perhaps, his journey’s across the globe to find and defeat any stand users who meant trouble. He had been to more countries that he bothered keeping track of.

During the years, he had become somewhat desensitized to the wonders of transporting oneself from one location to another. Especially the conventional methods. Car, boat, plane; mundane and routine by now. He had sailed across the Siberian Sea on a raft and traversed most of Europe on a tandem alongside a very talkative Frenchman. If they had ever entertained him, ordinary commercial airplanes no longer did. It was just another wait to get to another place.

Josuke, Okuyasu, and Koichi, on the other hand, had never once been on an airplane. As such, the three of them were in awe, amazed by every little thing they saw. Every. Little. Thing. And they hadn’t even left the airport yet.

A thought flew into Jotaro’s mind. When he was younger, he would have probably yelled at them once he got the least bit annoyed, and told them to shut up and sit down. Thankfully, he had better control over his temper than he had back then. Good thing too. It had nearly gotten him killed on more than one occasion.

He supposed it wouldn’t hurt to let them be kids for a while. Even if they were too old to be called kids. Their flight wasn’t leaving in an hour or so anyway, so they had plenty of time.

As for Jotaro, sat on one of the airport’s benches. Leaned backward and eyes closed, you would be excused to think he was sleeping. A quick nap before getting on the plane. You’d be excused, but you’d also be wrong. Jotaro Kujo did not nap. His mind was constantly working.

For now, it was focused on their mission. The premise was familiar enough; find and kill Santana the pillar man before he causes too much damage. However, if previous adventures had taught Jotaro anything, it was that things rarely turned out that simple. Especially not when you had to deal with blonde bloodsucker…

(”Time stand still!” His body coming to a stop, frozen in place. All he can do is watch.)

Jotaro had fought a vampire before. But if what gramps told him was right, pillar men made vampires look like friendly old ladies in comparison. To put it simply, vampires eat humans, pillar men eat vampires. They were ancient creatures, older than any human civilization. They had slept embedded in rocks for thousands of years, awaiting the discovery of a special gemstone. They could bend, twist and manipulate their bodies in ways that should be impossible.

A nigh immortal creature, older than any human, stronger, faster and smarter than any human? Already, beating Santana looked to be a pain.

But then there were other factors. The stone mask for example, that could turn humans into vampires. Or worse yet, the stand arrows.

Once this whole debacle was over, Jotaro was going to have a short conversation with whoever thought it was a good idea to keep these three items in the same vault.

Between himself and the others, Jotaro figured they could take out a vampire, or pillar man. Their natural weaknesses may only be sunlight or an extinct martial arts technique, but as long as the brain was destroyed, both vampire and pillar man alike would die.

The stand arrows complicated this. Jotaro knew from experience that while a vampire was dangerous, a vampire with a stand was a nightmare.

(”Too late! You cannot escape!” A crushing weight upon him.)

Jotaro didn’t shiver, nor did he shift uncomfortably in place. He didn’t even sigh, or in any way indicate any form of discomfort. The memory of that battle didn’t stir up any fear in him even after all those years. Sure, it had been the toughest battle of his life. But he had pushed through it. He had won and defeated the monster.

No, the past was behind him. If anything made him feel the slightest twinge of fear, it was what was happening in the present.

”Yare yare,” he muttered as the cold steel of a gun was pressed against his neck.

When he told the three boys the world was in danger, he wasn’t exaggerating. DIO had posed a threat to the world, Santana was no different. Except he would be even harder to kill.

”Well, ain’t it my lucky day? Here I thought it would be a pain in the ass to find you, but hen you just sit here,” said a man’s voice behind him. He spoke English with an accent… Northern European perhaps?

A metallic click; a revolver being cocked.

”Any last words before I blow your brains out?”

(”Useless!” An inhuman screech, a flash of yellow. An aura of pure evil.)

”Star Platinum: The World.”

For any onlookers, it would seem like the foreigner had just fallen backward for no reason whatsoever. One second, he was tapping the sleeping giant on the shoulder, the next he fell over. No sooner had he hit the floor before the large man got up to help the poor man. Obviously trained medic. One could tell as much by how routinely he examined the man.

Of course, that was what an onlooker might see. Jotaro’s true purpose was to check the man’s head. Though he had only heard a few sentences, there was something in those words he recognized. A certain… inhumanity. Like the man wasn’t fully in control, and not just because he was drunk or on drugs.

His suspicions were spot on. Attached to the base of the man’s skull sat a small insect-like lump of non-human organic matter. A fleshbud. Small parasites planted by a vampire to take control of the victim. A disgusting and cowardly tactic.Exactly what you’d expect from a true monster, someone completely devoid of morals.

Very well, if that was the gams Santana wanted to play, Jotaro was more than up for it. Over the years, Jotaro had become quite good at faking accidents. While pretending to his pulse, Jotaro summoned Star Platinum’s fist. It overlaid with his own, and in one quick motion, he removed the fleshbud. The parasite tried to fight back, extending razor-sharp tentacles that would cut through the skin of any human. But not through Star Platinum, which unceremoniously crushed the thing into a red paste.

Medics soon arrived to take care of the man. They asked some standard questions, to which Jotaro replied as he usually did. No, he didn’t know why the man fell over. No, he had never seen him before. No problem, my pleasure to be of assistance. 

Soon enough, they left with the man.

”Yare yare…” Jotaro muttered again. The fact that it was his second since they got to the airport alone did not bode well. This trip was going to be a real pain, wasn’t it?

He should probably go find Josuke and the others.

xxXXxx

Meanwhile, Josuke was thinking along the same lines as his nephew. He, Okuyasu and Koichi had spent the last ten minutes or so walking around the airport, taking in everything they could. Despite the threat of the end of the world looming over their heads, the three had as much fun as ever.

But after a while, Koichi had needed to visit a bathroom, and Okuyasu discovered a small candy shop, in which he now was entranced. Josuke was interested in neither activity, so he stood waiting outside the candy shop.

On the surface, anyone giving the young man a thought would probably just see someone nervous before their first flight, trying to calm the nerves by watching strangers walking by. Which was not too far from reality. Josuke was nervous and trying to calm his nerves. By watching strangers pass by. However, it was not the flight he was feeling tense about. It was… something else.

Jotaro had shown them a photo of the pillar man they would be fighting. It had been a pretty old photo, from way back when color photography was first invented. It had looked like a man. A man with blonde hair and strong facial lines, giving him a look like he had been sculptured from stone. It had only been briefly, but…

For a second, Josuke had seen Yoshikage Kira in the image. For a moment, the psychopathic serial killer was starring back at him from the afterlife. 

Josuke had pushed it out of his mind at the time, distracting himself by having fun with his friends. But now, while he was alone, the thought returned to him.

Why? Why did he keep seeing Kira? Why did that bastard still haunt him? He was dead, dead and beaten. All his victims were avenged. His soul was burning in hell, Reimi had assured them of that. They had defeated him, he… he…

Josuke had replayed the battle many times in his head the last year. He had gone back and considered every step he had taken during that fight. He had analyzed every last angle to it, any mistake she had done, any openings he missed.

The few last seconds, in particular, had stayed in his mind. His broken body, finally within range of the bastard Kira. Out of tricks, the killer was at Josuke’s mercy. He had unleashed Crazy Diamond upon the defenseless murderer. At that moment, he had won.

(”I’ve won!”)

A man in the crowd caught Josuke’s attention. Partially because of his unusual appearance. Black leather jackets, bushy mustaches, and thick glasses do not go well together. Partially because the man was starring at Josuke himself. The fact that he was glowing with a dark red aura surrounding him also helped. The man was a stand user.

Without warning, the man chucked a rock he had been holding at Josuke. Not that it would do him any good; Crazy Diamond had already materialized itself in front of Josuke, ready to deflect the attack… except it didn’t need to.

The rock had completely missed Josuke, instead hitting the window to the candy store. Shards of glass rained down, a few hitting Josuke. But if the man’s plan was to have the shards cut him, it failed horribly.

”Ha!” Josuke shouted. He rushed forward towards the man, intent on taking him out quickly before he got anyone hurt. ”You missed!”

(”This always happens when life deals me its worst.”)

”Shut up!” the man yelled back. With a manic expression, he shoved his index finger up his upper lip. ”Get him, Glasseyesnake!”

The shards from the window started glowing with the same glow as the man himself. As if pulled by a magnetic force, they flew towards Josuke with great speed and force. A trap! The man’s intention was never to hit Jouske with the rock… but to produce the shards he needed for his stand!

Josuke scoffed at the thought. Mere centimeters from his skin, the glass shards stopped in the air. Surrounded by a golden aura, the shards flew back to the window. As quickly as the man had broken it, the pieces of glass had rearranged, reassembled and repaired themselves. The last piece flew from Crazy Diamond’s fist and fitted itself into the last hole. The window was as good as new.

Such an obvious power, Josuke was actually kinda surprised it had been that straightforward. Having his stand grabbing a glass shard, just in case the enemy tried turning them against him was basically an instinct by now. Something he did unconsciously.

Heh. Speaking of unconsciousness… Jotaro had, two minutes earlier, defeated a man in literally less than one second. Now, Josuke wasn’t far behind him.

”DORA!” A pink fist in silver armor hit the would-be-assassin with a mighty cry. And just like that, the fight was over.

If you could even call it a fight. The man was obviously unskilled and his power predictable. Compared to some of the stand users at home, he was practically a joke. 

(”Luck is on the side of Yoshikage Kira!”)

Okuyasu came rushing from the candy shop. He was joined by a group of bystanders, all asking him what had happened and if he was okay.

Josuke assured them that, yes, he was okay, It had just been some drunk who had snuck into the airport and started shouting and throwing rocks.

Through the crowd, he felt Jotaro’s strong hand on his shoulder.

”Stand user?”

”Yeah.”

Jotaro then proceeded to kneel beside the unconscious assassin. He did something to the back of the man’s head… Josuke was unsure of what. He couldn’t concentrate. His mind was far away… many months away.

The words of the killer were still ringing in his ears. There was a reason for why they did. Because they were true. When he laid on the ground, the murderer standing over him… a bubble of explosive air coming closer and closer…

He had lost. 

At that moment, Josuke Higashikata had lost.

xxXXxx

[Josuke Higashikata]  
The bastard son of Joseph Joestar and Jotaro’s uncle. Takes offense to his hair being ridiculed. 

Stand: Crazy Diamond

Appearance: A muscular, pink-skinned humanoid clad in silver armor with a heart motif.

Notable Powers and Abilities  
•Strength and Speed-CD’s physical abilities rival that of Jotaro's Star Platinum.  
•Restoration-CD can restore, repair or fix objects. This can be used to repair broken objects, heal fatal wounds or even revert an object (such as asphalt) into a previous form (coal tar). This ability is fast and powerful enough to reassemble the pieces of a human, while they are exploding. However, CD can not heal Josuke himself, or bring a person back to life once the soul has left the body.

Stats  
Destructive Power: A  
Speed: A  
Range: D  
Durability: B  
Precision: B  
Development Potential: C

[Billy Opel]  
An assassin sent by Santana to take out Jotaro and the Morioh Warriors. Somehow managed to sneak a gun into an airport.

Stand: Bandit

Appearance: Four revolvers hovering above the user.

Notable Powers and Abilities:  
•Tough Torpedo-When the user fires his revolver, the four stand-revolvers above his head fires as well. The stand guns have infinite ammunition and are not affected by recoil. 

Stats:  
Destructive Power: B  
Speed: B  
Range: B  
Durability: A  
Precision: D  
Development Potential: C

[Eddie Meduza]  
An assassin sent by Santana to take out Jotaro and the Morioh Warriors. Has a complex about his glasses.

Stand: Glasseyesnake

Appearance: N/A, bound type stand

Notable Powers and Abilities:  
•Anyone Wanna Fight A Glasseyesnake?-The stand attaches to any glass shards in the vicinity. They are then sent flying towards the target at high speeds. The shards become coated in a poison similar to that of the Indian cobra.

Stats  
Destructive Power: C  
Speed: B  
Range: B  
Durability: A (bound type, unaffected by damage)  
Precision: E  
Development Potential: A

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jotaro: Oh please, not another part of this shit. *tiredly removes fleshbud*
> 
> So, a one-parter chapter this one too. The next chapter, on the other hand, is going to be a multi-parter. And it's going to focus on Beach City and the Crystal Gems... like the last multi-parter... yeah.
> 
> To be honest, there’s not much I can do on the Jojo side of things yet. On the Crystal Gems’ side, we have the introduction to stands and other stuff to deal with, which presents a lot of interesting opportunities. I don’t really have much to do with the Jojo cast until they meet up with the SU characters. Oh, but when they do… that’ll be a lot of fun.
> 
> \------------------------  
> As for the musical references… pretty obscure ones. Billy Opel and Eddie Meduza are Swedish singers. Bandit carries the same meaning in both English and Swedish, but Glasseyesnake takes a bit more explaining…
> 
> See, the name in Swedish is ”Glasögonorm,” a derogatory term for someone with glasses. The closest translation I could find was ”four eyes.” Though the literal translation would be glasses-eyes-snake.
> 
> Glasögonorm is also another name for the Indian cobra, which I found out while searching for the song on google. You learn something new every day, I suppose.
> 
> You can hear them in all their glory right here:   
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-qqghosMj8  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5sr2UGxfso
> 
> FYI, Eddie Meduza is probably one of the greatest Swedish musicians ever. I would go as far as to call him a downright genius. His lyrics have a way of just... hitting you, you know? You just... relate to the words he sings. His words don't just paint a picture, they take a photo of reality.
> 
> That, and his name is pretty freakin' cool too.  
> \--------------------------
> 
> Okay, next chapter when? Heck if I know. Friday? Though judging by my previous track record, it'll probably be out on Thursday, or whatever.
> 
> But until then, take care of the planet Earth. And remember, anything can happen in space


	8. Three Gems and a Stand, Act 1

Chapter 5: Three Gems and a Stand, Act 1

The last year and a half, Connie had seen and heard a lot of bizarre things. ’Magic aliens’ could only begin to describe them. Earlier that day, she had casually fought and defeated a giant monster, which was actually an alien who had been corrupted by their own leaders…

Suffice it to say, Connie had built up somewhat of a resistance towards these types of weird things. But even in the fantastical universe, she lived in, there were certain rules. Even if there was a broader spectrum of what was possible, there were still things that ’made sense’ A leads to B, certain laws still existed. 

One of those rules sad that what had just happened to them shouldn’t have happened.

The two humans’ powers hadn’t lasted very long. It actually took less than a minute for them to dissipate entirely. It had been a weird feeling. The teen boy’s illusions had been one thing, but the woman’s… independence removal powers had been another thing completely. While being trapped in an illusion had been scary, the woman’s power was terrifying. Her body had just stopped obeying her mind.

Monsters and alien soldiers had nothing on that feeling of total helplessness.

Right now, the three of them were heading back to Steven’s house to tell the other gems. Where the group only an hour earlier would have been small-talking, making jokes and laughing, they now walked in silence. What could they talk about? This… entire thing had happened so fast and so unexpectedly.

Pearl seemed particularly troubled. Her eyes were glassy as if focused on something in another time or place. Hand over her mouth, muffled words could sometimes be heard. Connie didn’t mean to listen to things she had no business hearing, but she could swear she heard the words ’Rose,’ ’Steven,’ and ’protect’ more than once.

Connie decided against asking. She knew Pearl… had a complicated past when it came to Rose.

Once the arrived at the house, they were met by Amethyst. She was currently lying upside down on the sofa, trying to get the last drops of cooking oil out of the cans.

”Yoh, yohu aledy bach?” she greeted them lazily. However, once she saw the state her three friends were in, she quickly swallowed the entire can and stood back up. ”Hey, something wrong?”

”I guess you could say that…” Connie began but was interrupted by Pearl.

”Humans!” she exclaimed. ”Humans with powers!”

Amethyst tilted her head and frowned.

”What, like the breath-ripple thingy?”

”No, no… this was different, besides hamon doesn’t even work on us…” Pearl sighed deeply. She walked over to the sofa, and crashed down in it, rubbing her temples. ”Just… just get Garnet.”

Amethyst didn’t protest. She didn’t even make any remarks or quips but did as Pearl asked her to. Her teammate was obviously worried and stressed over whatever had happened.

Another uncomfortable silence hanged itself over the room. Pearl sat on the sofa, head in her hands.

”So, um, what was this ’hamon’ thing?” Connie tried to break the silence.

Pearl’s entire body jerked at the sudden sound. She rubbed her eyes, before looking back at Connie.

”Excuse me, what did you say?”

”Well… you and Amethyst mentioned this thing… hamon?”

”Yeah,” Steven joined her. ”Amethyst said it gave humans powers, right? What is it?”

”Oh, that,” Pearl said. She considered the question for a moment. ”Hamon is… it was used in an old type of human martial arts. I’m not sure how it works, but it allows humans to channel energy through their bodies via a special breathing technique.”

”And it gives humans powers?” Connie prodded further.

”Yes, in a way. It could produce some interesting effects, like water walking, slowing down aging and…” for a second, her eyes were distant again. ”…other things. Though nothing like what those two strangers demonstrated.”

”Can anyone learn hamon?” For a second, Connie had forgotten about that little world-changing event thirty minutes ago.

Pearl frowned.

”I’m not sure actually. There were only a few users, and I think they might have all died…”

”Who has died?” Amethyst announced her return, alongside Garnet. The purple gem was far from her usual self, fully serious. The prospect of someone dying made her visibly worried.

”No, no, no one has died. Or well, I mean, someone has died but not because of the humans with powers. You mentioned hamon earlier, and Connie got curious, so I told her a little about it, and she wondered if anyone could learn it, and I don’t know, but I think all the users are dead, so that’s why I said it…”

”Pearl!” Despite her deep voice, Garnet still managed to cut through the white gem’s ramblings. The fusion was as calm as ever. ”Calm down. Breathe.”

”Why? We don’t need to breathe, so why…?”

Garnet, who had walked up to the white gem, put her hands on Pearl’s shoulders.

”Just do it.”

Pearl took a deep breath. It seemed to help her calm down a little.

”There. Now, sit down.” Pear sat down on the sofa. Garnet sat down to, on the other side of the table, right on the floor. She made a gesture for the others to join them. ”Now, tell me what happened. From the beginning.”

xxXXxx

During her years on Earth, Garnet had seen many, many strange things. Not all that unexpected really. Her own conception was extraordinary. Surely, she was destined to meet many other such extraordinary happenings. 

Throughout this peculiar journey of hers, she had become very good at hiding her emotions, such as shock or surprise. She had, as Greg put it, mastered the ’poker face.’

This skill had become all the more important after Rose… gave up her form. Now, the responsibility of leader rested on her shoulders. She needed to be strong. Not just as a fighter, that was the easy part. Garnet could trade blows with practically an unfused gem there was. Aside from the diamonds, of course.

No, fighting wasn’t the hard part. But to always be strong, to never give up, never blinking in the face of danger; that was the hard part. That’s why she wore the visor. The eye is the window to the soul, even for a gem. So, if even one part of her soul felt fear, her eyes would show it. And if her eyes showed it, her teammates could see it. And if they could see it, how then would she give them hope, the hope they needed to continue the fight?

If her teammates could see her soul now, they would see worry. Worry and alarm.

Some might say Pearl was overreacting. After all, no one had gotten hurt, and even then, the two human muggers seemed harmless enough. Or so it may seem on the surface. But if one dug deeper, looked at the implications… what did one find then?

Never once had the Crystal Gems encountered any human with powers like these. Hamon had indeed been a lot different from what Steven, Connie, and Pearl were describing, and none of Earth's monsters had displayed powers similar to this either. This raised several questions.

What were these powers? Where did they come from? How long had they been around? How many were there? And perhaps the most important one… why did they show up here now?

Garnet usually didn’t ask many questions. She was the one who gave the answers. That’s what her future vision was for. But now she had no answers. Her powers showed her nothing but vague images that lacked all form of coherence; the magic equivalent of static.

”…once the effect expired, we made out way back here, and here we are.” Pearl finished up her retelling of the events.

They all sat quietly for a moment, processing the new information.

”So, G-Squad,” Amethyst said after a while. ”You know what’s going on?”

”No.” There was no reason to lie. It would just end up badly. She didn’t need future vision to tell her that.

”Wha- really?” Amethyst did her best to hide her shock. ”Not a single idea? Not one?”

”No,” Garnet said once again. She stood back up. One by one, she looked at the people gathered at the coffee table. One of the downsides of the visor was that she had to turn her head overtime she wanted to signify her shifting attention.

”I don’t know what’s going on, who or what those people were. There’s just too little information to work with. For now, the best we can do is to keep extra watch over the city, in case any more of these powered humans show up.”

All around the table nodded in silence. Garnet knew the plan was disappointing, amounting to little else but to sit around and wait for something to happen. She knew because she felt exactly the same. But what else could they do? They had nothing to go on, no leads or information to work with. She had considered many other options and looked down the river of time. None of them ended up anywhere useful.

She turned to walk away. She had to stay strong, for their sake. 

”I’m going out right now. Steven, Connie.” She turned back to the two kids. ”You should go tell Peridot and Lapis. We could make use of two pairs of extra eyes. Pearl, Amethyst, you’re with me.”

Garnet sometimes asked herself ’what would Rose do?’ when she was unsure of what to do. Usually, it would help her by putting her into the mindset of another person. That way, you consider angles you wouldn’t normally. You can come up with solutions you wouldn’t normally. It didn’t mean she literally wondered what Rose would do. Rather, what ways another person might go about solving a problem. 

This time, however, the question was more genuine. Garnet did wonder what Rose would really do. How would a real leader handle this mess?

xxXXxx

’What would Rose do?’ asked the small voice in Pearl’s head once again. For once, the others stayed silent. They really didn’t have any other answers to give. This whole situation was just so… bizarre! Nothing the gems had ever faced before came close.

Now, the voices in Pearl’s head were not separate entities or personalities. They were just her mind exploring different aspects of situations, given distinct voices. These could be ’the pessimist,’ which explored the worst cases scenarios. ’The optimist’ explored the best case scenarios. 

The ’Rose’ voice was built on Pearl’s experience of Rose. It was a compendium of how Rose thought and acted. She had spent six thousand years observing Rose; she figured she had the best understanding of how her old leader thought… aside from when it came to a few things.

If the ’Rose’ voice didn’t know what to do, it was because Pearl’s mind lacked the experience to base it on. Of course, it wasn’t actually Rose making any decisions; it was Pearl. So saying the ’Rose’ voice didn’t know what to do was another way of saying Pearl didn’t know what to do.

Oh, how Pearl wished she had Garnet’s strength. She always knew what to do, and never hesitated. Even Amethyst had the same type of mental strength, Even if she didn’t always do the right thing, she kept her eyes forward, and she too never hesitated to act on what she believed was right.

She let out a deep sigh. She tried some more of that breathing thing. It was actually surprisingly effective at calming her nerves. Maybe that was why humans did it so much?

”So… you sure you don't know what’s going on?” Amethyst asked in her quiet voice. The three of them were making their way towards the town. The sun had lowered in the sky, though it had yet to fully set. Pearl had lost track of time but guessed it was around four o’ clock. ”Or did you just not want to talk about the… human-monsters around Steven and Connie?”

”Yes.” 

…

”Yes what?”

Garnet abruptly stopped. Both Pearl and Amethyst were unprepared for this and bumped into her in a way that probably would look very comedic to an onlooker.

”I don’t know what’s going on,” Garnet said, her back still turned to them. There was a slight edge to her words. ”I… I have no idea. We’ve never seen anything like it before and my future vision is not telling me anything.”

She finally turned around. Her visor was off, three eyes meeting her friends’ four. In them, they saw the same uncertainty they themselves felt. However, there was something else… determination. A cold, yet hot determination burned like a fire within her. This let the two other Crystal Gems that, no matter what this new threat may be, they would stand against it. They had faced overwhelming odds in the past. They can do it again.

Or at least, that’s what Pearl took away from it. She wasn’t sure what Amethyst thought.

”However, I know that this is not because of the ’human-monsters.’” With a flick of her fingers, she summoned a new visor. ”They’re all dead, and that human promised to destroy all of those masks. No, it can’t be them, and I don’t want Steven to get nightmares.”

Pearl and Amethyst nodded in unison; that made sense. The poor boy had enough to worry about without bringing up past threats that were no longer relevant.

”The only thing we can do now is to wait and see,” Garnet continued. ”By the looks of it, the two humans you encountered were not organized. They didn’t expect anyone to be able to break their powers…”

”…therefore, it’s safe to assume these powers aren’t very common,” Pearl continued.

”Maybe it’s a one-time thing?” Amethyst suggested. ”What if these humans are, like, unique or something? Or what if it’s a thing some humans just have, but it’s really rare, and that’s why we haven’t seen it before? Maybe we’re overreacting?”

Now wasn’t that an interesting idea.

Perhaps they were overreacting. Just because they hadn’t seen something before didn’t mean it wasn’t natural. After all, they hadn’t learned about the ’human-monsters’ until thousands of years after they first came to Earth. Why couldn’t this be any different? Simply something unknown to them, yet completely natural… even if it wasn’t benevolent in nature.

Garnet stood quietly for a moment, before bringing her right hand, the one with Sapphire’s gem on it, up to her face. Even through the visor, it was clear she was starring at the gemstone.

”No,” she finally said. She turned her hand, examining her fingernails. ”I think we can say this wasn’t an isolated incident.” Except Garnet didn’t have any nails.

”Why, did you see something in the future?” Amethyst asked. She hadn’t noticed yet…

”Nope,” Garnet said. ”She showed her hand to the purple gem. ”I’m saying that because we are currently under attack.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh, nani!? I-impossible!
> 
> Fun Fact: Pearl breathing to calm her nerves, and the line about 'perhaps that's why humans do it so much' is a reference to a fic called 'The Connie Maheswaran Fanclub.'
> 
> You can find it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7746817/chapters/17662573
> 
> If you only want the reference, it's in chapter 11.
> 
> You may have noticed I make a lot of references. This is not specific to this fic, but I do go out of my way a bit more for this one. I think JoJo x SU is suited for this, actually; JoJo is well known for its musical influences, and SU makes plenty of homages and easter eggs.
> 
> Aside from music, this story references a lot of other fanfictions, particularly ones that have inspired me. In a way, they're just as much to thank for this story as the original shows. Whether they made me laugh, cry or view a character in a new light.
> 
> I guess it's just my way of saying 'thank you' to all those that showed me that it was worth the time and effort to write, even if it is just a piece of stupid fanfiction.  
> \----------------------
> 
> Next chapter. Writing's going a bit slower now... perhaps Monday? Or maybe Tuesday, to celebrate my birthday.
> 
> But until then, take care of the planet Earth. And remember that anything can happen in space!


	9. Three Gems and a Stand, Act 2

**Chapter 5: Three Gems and a Stand, Act 2**

Had they been in a less serious situation, Garnet might have been slightly amused by the face Amethyst was making as she stared at Garnet’s hand. It went from confusion to disbelief, to shock as the realization hit her. Their leader hadn’t just picked this moment to start pulling jokes on them. No, they were indeed under attack.

Or perhaps attack is the wrong word to use. An attack implied that there was someone actively trying to cause them harm. Traditionally, through physical means, though psychological warfare wasn’t unheard of either. This didn’t fit any of those criteria.

To be honest, it was hard to tell if it was even supposed to cause any damage at all. Whatever was happening to Garnet’s right hand… well…

It had started as a weird feeling. It wasn’t quite her ordinary senses, nor her future vision. Something in-between. Call it a gut feeling. Then, the outer layer of the gem on her right hand, Sapphire’s gem… had lost its color. Or rather, it had lost the maroon color of the garnet stone and gotten back it’s sapphire blue.

Next, something had happened with her fingers. On the very fingertips, a grey layer had appeared. No, not appeared… growing. Yes, looking closer, Garnet could see the grey mass growing from her fingers.

She was reminded of when Amethyst and Steven had shown off their new fusion. Since Steven had a human body, the way it acted during fusion was a little different from an ordinary gem’s. When they unfused, his body didn’t glow or reshape itself from a mass of solid light. It sorta just ’plopped’ out from the shinning mass that was Amethyst reforming body.

That didn’t fully describe what was happening to Garnet's hand, but it’s what she was reminded of. Rather than ’plopp’ out of her, the grey mass was being slowly pulled out. By now, it had gone from looking like nails on her fingertips. It covered about half her fingers, with the edges at her fingertips poking out a bit more.

The most unsettling part was that she didn’t feel anything. If she hadn’t looked at it, she wouldn’t have realized it was happening. It was unsettling. Garnet was a warrior. She was used to pain and danger. This… ’attack’ was unfamiliar territory. She didn’t know how to react.

”Okay,” Amethyst said after a while. ”Just what the hel…” she caught herself a stern look from Pearl. ”…heck is that?” she corrected her words.

”I don’t know,” was all that Garnet could answer with. How many times had she said that today? Too many. 

”It looks kinda like some tumor-thing,” Amethyst said. When this earned her a raised eyebrow from Pearl, she was quick to explain: ”I saw it on some documentary with Steven once. There’s this human disease called ’kanser’ and it makes their, uh… things grow like really fast. And it forms tumors, which are like these gross…” Lacking the words to explain what she meant, Amethyst decided to show them. She shapeshifted a small bump on her arm, and then slowly let it grow in size.

”It’s apparently very dangerous,” she continued her explanation. The bump on her arm was joined by several more all over her body. Within seconds, she was almost unrecognizable, covered in disgusting… tumors? ”They have cut them out and stuff.” She reverted back to her usual form.

”Well,” Garnet said. ”That’s an interesting theory. But we’re not organic so…”

”Amethyst!” Pearl interrupted her. ”Exactly what have you been showing Steven?”

”Ah, well…” Amethyst quite audibly gulped. ”I didn’t show it to him, he was already watching when I came and…”

”No excuses! You should have known better than to show him scary stuff like that!”

”Pearl…” Garnet tried to step in to stop them. Amethyst, however, was already in defensive mode.

”Yeah, irresponsible me. It’s not like, oh I don’t know… we kinda drag him on all these dangerous missions all the time, you know? With scary monsters.”

”Amethyst…”

”That’s not the same thing!” Pearl shouted back. ”Showing him other humans getting cut up…” She didn’t even finish the sentence. The mere thought disgusted Pearl to such a degree, she had to hold back a gag reflex. And she didn’t even eat.

Amethyst ignored her, and simply continued where she left off.

”Or how about that time he got kidnapped by a bunch of evil Homeworld gems and taken to court all alone and…”

Pearl’s eyes went wide in shock and anger. A sore nerve had been struck.

”Oh, don’t you dare…”

”Pearl! Amethyst! Focus!” Garnet didn’t often shout. But when she did, you paid attention. Safe to say, the two bickering gems’ attention immediately snapped back to Garnet and her… predicament.

And what a predicament. The ’tumor’ (for lack of a better word) had kept growing during their argument. No longer was it just a thin layer of grey on Garnet’s fingers. It had spread to most of the hand now, the entire back and some of the wrist. More alarming, however, was the fingers. 

From Garnet’s knuckles, five brand new fingers now protruded. Five grey fingers rose above the original ones, from which they came. And they were moving. Slowly, the fingers flexed, as to try if they worked properly.

”Okay, but seriously, what the hell is that?” This earned Amethyst a sharp elbow in the side.

”It’s no ’tumour,’ that’s for certain,” Pearl scoffed. ”We’re not organic, so human diseases can’t affect us…” She grabbed Garnet’s hand to have a closer look. ”Hm, it looks almost like a…”

”A hand,” Garnet interrupted her. Yes indeed, a second hand was growing out of her’s. Like lightning from clear sky, a vision had come to Garnet. A clear vision of the future. In it, the grey mass kept growing, until she had a second arm… and then it kept growing. An identical copy of herself, but grey had grown out of her. And then… blank. The future showed nothing more.

That could mean many things. It could be that she simply lacked information; unless they could find out more about this phenomena, her future vision could only show her so much. However, there was another possibility.

That, if the copy was allowed to grow to full size, it would kill her, and she couldn’t see past that.

”I saw something,” Garnet declared to the others. ”This,” she made a gesture with her hand. ”… will keep growing until it’s a full copy of me.”

”And then what?” Amethyst asked quietly.

”I don’t know.” Somewhere inside Garnet, something (most likely Ruby) swore that if she had to say that line one more time today… she would get really angry.

Better make sure she didn’t have to get angry then.

Garnet looked back into the vision. There was one small detail she had noticed. Something that was off. It was true she could only see up to a certain point, and only herself and the copy in the vision. Except…

There! They were nearly invisible. Connected to the copy’s back was a series of strings like it was a puppet. Going backward in the vision confirmed her suspicion. The copy wasn’t growing from her. It was being pulled. Pulled out of her by small strings that were now connected to her back.

Back in the present, Garnet let her hand run over her hand, and then to her back. No strings. But still… now that she knew they were there, Garnet could have sworn she saw them in front of her as she stared at her hand. 

”Pearl… you said that if you beat the user, the effect will stop, right?” The entire hand had emerged now. An exact replica in every way. Aside from the grey color, of course.

”Yeah,” Pearl said. ” How come? Do you have a plan?”

”Yes,” Garnet said. The grey hand suddenly jerked, and forcibly grabbed Garnet’s real hand, restraining it. With strength that could match the original, it began to try and crush the Crystal Gem’s hand. Not that it did it any good. Garnet had foreseen it and locked the copy’s fingers in-between her own.

”We find the user and beat them.”

xxXXxx

”We find the user and beat them.”

Of course, she heard that one clearly. The winds from the sea had drowned out all other words from the… um, Crystal Gems? Only indistinct chatter had reached her ears before. But the part about them beating her up? That part reached her perfectly fine! Seriously, was the world against her or something?

It probably was.

Upon the hill that ran alongside a good part of the beach, a young woman was hiding. Her name was Katey. And she was currently attacking the… cosplayers? Body paint cultists? Aliens?Whatever, the women with strange colors. Long strings extended from her hand and reached all the way down to the tall one with the cube helmet. Or at least Katey thought it was a helmet.

Mind you, she didn’t want to attack them. She was forced to.

Katey P. had always been a normal girl. Not boringly normal, but not outstanding either. She had been visiting Beach City along with her family. They were currently on a one and a half week vacation. A well deserved one, if you asked Katey. Her family was a hard-working one, everyone always did their best. They deserved to take a week off, just relax and visit some new cool places. Beach City was a stop on the way, they had just arrived that morning.

At first, Katey hadn’t been too impressed. A small, boring town, with the most unoriginal name ever. But over the day, it had grown on her. The beach was pretty beautiful, and there was a lot of fun people in the town to chat with.

One of the boys, in particular, had caught her eye. Now, Katey didn’t think of herself as shallow… but what a hottie!

And then she got stabbed and blackmailed into attacking whoever these people were. Seriously, the white one looked sickly, she was so thin.

Speaking of which, the women had started moving. Katey didn’t even bother swearing or berating her luck. She has already done that. She had no time for it either. She didn’t understand fully how this weird power worked, but she knew she needed to keep within range, or else… something bad would happen. 

She felt how something started to pull at the strings on her hand. Katey was doing her best, but a teenage girl crawling through the grass can only move so fast, and the three women were simply walking too fast for her to keep up. Thankfully, she could afford a couple of meters… The strings weren’t pulling on her fingers just yet.

Katey felt her breath get faster and uneven. One of them. She only needed to kil… take down one of them, and the scary man would let her go. He would let her and her family go. 

”Sorry,” she whispered. To whom? The strangers she was attacking? Herself? Her family? Did it really matter?

She stood back up. The three women all had their sights turned towards the city. They wouldn’t notice her now. Back on her feet, she could better keep pace with the three of them.

A morbid thought passed through her head.

’Let’s play hide and seek. I’ll start hiding. The loser dies.’

She ran behind the donut shop she had passed by earlier. The women were continuing on the boardwalk. Katey figured she had about thirty-five to forty meters range on her strings. And they would phase through any object that wasn’t herself. So she could just keep hiding behind the buildings and they wouldn’t ever find her.

The game was on.

xxXXxx

[Garnet]  
The current leader of the Crystal Gems. The first ever cross-type fusion, between Ruby and Sapphire.

Gem Placement: Right palm (Sapphire), Left palm (Ruby)

Weapon(s): Gauntlets

Notable Powers and Abilities  
•Strength-Despite her components being relatively physically weak, their strong bond gives Garnet immense strength. Currently the physically strongest Crystal Gem.  
•Electrokinesis-Can generate powerful electrical currents and charges from her gauntlets.  
•Thermal Resistance-Garnet can withstand high temperatures, being able to swim in lava (ca. 700-1 200°C)  
•Rocket Gauntlets-Gauntlets can be launched like rockets for long range attacks. Need time to regenerate.  
•Future Vision-Garnet can see and perceive possible future events and timelines. This ability can temporarily be transferred to another person.

Stats  
Destructive Power: A  
Speed: A  
Range: D  
Durability: A  
Skill: A  
Rarity: N/A (cross-type fusion)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the difficulties with writing crossovers like this, I think, is to make sure you represent both sources. While JoJo-ing up SU is important, I also gotta make sure to Steven Universe-ify JoJo. Thing is, I find JoJo and SU fit strangely well together. For example, in this chapter, when Pearl and Amethyst start arguing while Garnet is under attack; I could see that happen in both series.
> 
> For that scene though, I did try my best to make it lean a bit more towards the SU end of the spectrum. I do feel like we've been missing some of that "oh, that's so Steven Universe!" feel. I'm a little mixed on it... I think it lacks a bit of energy, you know? It might have benefitted from a re-write. On the other hand, I did sorta promise to get a chapter out by today, so here we are.
> 
> Speaking of today, today is my birthday. Y'all better give some congrats, or else I might make you wait an entire week for a chapter. 
> 
> Ah, yes, next chapter when?
> 
> ...
> 
> Don't know. As I mentioned last time, writing's been a bit slower recently. For that, you can thank a combination of putting a lot of energy into finishing a big school project, and suddenly getting inspiration for another project, which consumed my writing fuel for a few days.
> 
> I'll try to get something out by the end of the week.
> 
> But until then, take care of the planet Earth, and remember that anything can happen in space!
> 
> PS. Any guesses as to what the new stand is called? I made this one pretty easy, I think.


	10. Three Gems and a Stand, Act 3

**Three Gems and a Stand, Act 3**

Amethyst had often felt like, well, an alien. Not just to Earth, which she admittedly was… except she was made there, so did that make her native to the planet? Stars, that was so confusing!

Anyway, she often felt alien to her own kind as well. A little less than five thousand years ago, she had emerged from the ground in an abandoned place. It was long after the war had already passed. The war she had been made to fight in. It had boggled Amethyst’s mind when she first realized it; she had, literally, been made to fight the people she called friends. How weird is that!?

She would never dream of ever fighting any of the Crystal Gems… okay, she had done that. On multiple occasions. For several reasons, some more stupid than others. But to actually fight them, to try and hurt them? ’Inconceivable!’ she would shout if she cared to use such a complicated word. And even if she did, Pearl would probably school her about the improper use of it anyways.

Bottom line, even if she was made for it, Amethyst would never dream of hurting her friends.

She didn’t know it, but this was perfectly normal for an amethyst. The purple quartz soldiers were made to live and act in tight-knit groups. A human might not quite grasp the full weight of this at first. You have to realize that gems have no concept of family. At least, not in the way most humans do. They do have concepts of ’love’ and ’friendship,’ thought the first one is discouraged, and the latter treated as a tertiary priority, at best. 

Amethysts have families; their squad-mates. They’re like peas and carrots, peridots and holo-screens, pearls and their masters; Inseparable. That is until their superiors decide to split the group up for their next assignment. It was not too uncommon for amethysts to develop interpersonal relationships with other types of gems if no other amethysts were available.

The Crystal Gems’ Amethyst exhibited perfectly normal behavior for her kind when she adopted them as her family. She was simply doing what came naturally to her sort, what she was programmed to do. Even if separated, and amethyst never forgets someone they once called a friend. Anyone skeptical of this statement is free to challenge it. Many have tried, and then have to endure hours of amethysts listing several thousands of years worth of gem serial numbers.

Now, of course, Amethyst didn’t know any of this. All she knew was that she loved her friends, her family and that she would do anything to protect them. Even if she wasn’t as strong or smart or skilled as the others, she would fight until the very end for them. And she trusted them to do the same.

Ah yes, trust. Ask any half-decent coach or team-leader what’s most important in a team, and chances are ’trust’ will be fairly high on that list. It is the foundation on which a team stands. If the trust is broken, the foundation is broken, and the team will crumble.

The Crystal Gems all trusted each other. They had all proved themselves worthy of each others’ trust many, many times. Garnet especially had shown herself worthy of the role as leader. Strength, confidence, reassurance, future vision, sweet shades… she had all the essentials of a leader. There was an abundance of proof to support this claim. Amethyst had no doubt in their new leader’s ability to lead them.

That was, until this day.

Try as she might, Amethyst couldn’t help but shake the feeling that there must be some more efficient way of finding an enemy than to run around town, scaring the socks of off people, hoping to find… whoever was causing this, to begin with. Yet was what they were doing.

Garnet’s plan had sounded perfectly sound to Amethyst. Find whoever’s doing this, beat them up until they stop. Simple and straight to the point, like she liked her plans. There was only a teeny tiny little problem; they didn’t know where the user was. And they had no clues. All they had to go off of was some hunch Garnet had. Not that it’s not how they usually do things, but this time was… different.

Garnet was always so confident, she always knew what to do. Of course, she was. Not only was she super strong, but her future vision was positively broken in how useful it was. The three of them had been in many situations where the only thing standing between them and death was Garnet’s future vision. But now…

She was just as lost as the rest of them.

Though to be fair, what a fricking situation they were in. There was a second arm growing out of Garnet. That was a pretty tall leap, wouldn’t you agree? Amethyst was ready to accept that there were humans with strange powers. After all, she had seen humans and things-that-looked-like-humans-but-really-weren’t do weird stuff before. What Pearl, Connie, and Steven had described didn’t sound too much impossible. illusions and mind control were reasonable in Amethyst’s eyes. But growing arms out of people? Now that was weird, odd, bizarre, and every other word in the book she never actually read.

Speaking of which, the had grown almost the entire length of Garnet’s lower arm now. It looked almost like Smokey Quartz’s splitting elbow. Heck, it was even grey. It didn’t show any signs of stopping either. In fact, Amethyst was pretty sure it was actually getting faster now.

”Hey, Garnet… what is it? Did you see anything?” Pearl asked. The fusion gem had suddenly come to a stop. She was staring at her second arm. Her gaze then seemed to trail off from the arm, as if following something, an invisible lead…

”Yes… No… I-I don’t know!” Both of them were taken aback by the sheer frustration in Garnet’s tone. She was usually so cool and composed, but now… 

The grey arm suddenly jerked back to life, and broke free from Garnet’s grip, delivering a backhand slap to her face. Funny as it may have looked, it was enough to make Garnet stagger and knock her visor off. 

If they had been taken aback by her tone, Pearl and Amethyst were practically sent flying backward by the look in Garnet’s eyes. It wasn’t just frustration, but anger. Hot, burning anger, like a wild flame. While they didn’t get to see it often, they recognized that anger. Ruby anger.

Garnet growled and summoned the gauntlet on her left hand. With a mighty cry, she delivered a devastating punch, intent on breaking the impostor arm in half. Instead, she nearly broke her own arm.

When she hit the grey mass, it seemed to absorb the shock, almost like a piece of rubber. Then, a split second after that, Garnet’s own arm bent in the same way, nearly breaking.

”Argh!” Perhaps more in frustration than pain, Garnet punched the road beneath her feet, creating a miniature crater. Through grinding teeth, she muttered, ”It reflects damage.” She stood back up and looked out over the city. ”Strings. Must find the strings,” she muttered further.

Amethyst shot Pearl a look. Their gazes met, and amethyst saw herself in her friend. They were thinking the same thoughts. Both of them had seen Garnet angry before, but it was never like this. This wasn’t how she was supposed to act. Garnet’s anger was supposed to be quiet and focused. Not like this.

”Um, Garnet? Are you okay,” Amethyst finally said.

”No!” Garnet snapped. The grey had moved almost all the way to her shoulder. She grunted and rubbed her forehead, muttering something unintelligible. The impostor arm to its chance to attack once again, while Garnet was distracted. It had risen ever so slightly, and aimed a strike at the gem on Garnet’s right palm.

”Oh no, you don’t!” It would not have any luck with that. Amethyst had quickly summoned her whip. in one swing, she wrapped it around the grey arm, binding to the original. The impostor tried to break free, but Garnet had by this time realized what had happened, and wrapped her free arm around her two right arms, preventing the grey from moving. 

”Thanks, Amethyst,” she grunted, as the arm tried to wrestle free. ”Quick, that way,” she gestured with her head towards some nondescript building at the end of the street. And off at full speed, she was then, leaving her teammates in the dust.

For half a second that is, as the two of them soon were on her tail. This was something they could get behind. Their leader had a goal, her eyes focused on something in front of them. And together, the three of them would cut right through whatever stood in their way.

xxXXxx

Katey fancied herself a calm and collected person, cool even. In school, the school nurse would come and visit the class at the start of every year and talk about stress. She would go on and on about how bad stress was, and how to avoid it and stuff. Thought them some weird breathing technique.

Those had always fallen on deaf ears when it came to Katey. She just didn’t feel stress like others. Sure, she would get nervous or uncomfortable in pressing situations, but never stressed in the way others described it. She always kept a cold head. She had gotten several compliments because of it actually.

Besides, what was breathing in a square supposed to do against a panic attack? Because whatever it was, Katey kinda needed it right now. Because she was panicking.

Her plan had been going perfectly so far. She had kept her distance from the three women, hiding behind houses, making sure not to get seen. It had been hard to keep pace, for sure, as the women ran around the town, searching blindly. But Katey kept in good shape and was pretty athletic, if she may say so herself. And hey, she had always wanted to try parkour. Running and jumping through people’s backyards and gardens were not all that different, right?

Overall, Katey had to say that, for someone who never wanted to hurt anybody, she was doing a pretty fine job at just that.

However, luck had run out for Katey P… again. Somehow, somehow (!) the one she was attacking, the one with the square helmet, had found her. Katey had absolutely no idea how she had done it. Not for a second had any of the three seen her, that much she knew. She was also positive they couldn’t see… the thing on square helmet’s back, nor the strings attached to it. If they could, they sure were awfully nonchalant about the thing. No, that couldn’t be it. Not that it really mattered.

No, what mattered now was that the three of them were dashing right towards where Katey was. At the moment, it was in some random garden behind some random house. Aside from the house which still obscured her from their views, there was nowhere left to run that could hide her. The next house was across the street, and this time they would definitely see her. The garden itself didn’t have much, to offer in terms of protection, just a few neat flowerbeds, and two huge, proud bushes. Or, well, not rally bushes but Katey didn’t know what to actually call them…

Lacking any other alternatives, Katey dove behind one of them. When she was younger she had played hide and seek with one of her cousins over at grandma’s house. She had a bush like this one, that Katey had hidden in many times, despite the fact that she wasn’t allowed. It was a good hiding place.

She crawled deep into the bush, as deep as she could, curling up into a ball, making herself as small as she could. She put her free hand over her mouth, forcing herself to breathe normally, to not make any sounds. It was dark inside the bush, only a few rays of sunlight entering between the leaves. 

Just as she remembered it. The bush would hide her almost completely from the outside world. As long as she kept quiet and didn’t move, it was impossible to spot her inside of it. You would have to know specifically to look after her in that bush, which was how her cousin had beaten her eventually. However, even then, it was hard.

The downside was that Katey couldn’t see anything herself either. Only muffled sounds and voices would reach her through the leafage.

Running footsteps coming to a stop; the women arriving at the small garden. Someone, probably the short purple one, said something. 

”… what did you see?”

Katey couldn’t quite make out what the tall square-helmeted one answered. Her tone was so deep, it was reduced to only base sounds inside the bush. Though she might have heard the words ’don’t know’ in there somewhere.

”The user must be close then!”

It was a lot easier to make out the voice of the tall pale one. Her voice was a couple of octaves higher than the other two’s. 

A droplet of cold sweat ran down Katey’s face. Yes, the pale one was right. She was close by, alright. And lying on the dirty ground, she was completely defenseless. The square woman had found her before, maybe she could do it again? Then Katey was finished.

Even though the bush’s isolating barrier, Katey could clearly make out the surprised yelp and grunt the square woman made the clone on her back once again came back to life.

Katey couldn’t see it, but she could almost feel it, how the clone was growing. True, the three of them getting closer meant they were closer to beating her. But it also meant her power would work faster. Before, when she was far away, it had worked slowly, but now…

A snap, the purple one yelling; a smack and the sound of something crashing into the wall. A sickening sound of something breaking reached Katey’s ears clearly.

This was it. Through the strings connected to her right hand, she felt it, almost like a pulse. About half of the clone had emerged. It was over now. The intense pulse in her hand told her just how strong it was, there was no way these women could fight against it. 

Less than a whisper, even less than a breath, a word escaped Katey’s lips.

”Sorry,” she said for the second time that day. She didn’t even bother listening anymore to the sounds of struggle outside. There was no meaning to it, it was useless. Even when the square-helmeted one’s furious scream left fell on deaf ears…

A bright light, as if the sun had decided to take a trip down to Earth it up the small garden. even inside the dark bushes, Katey saw it. Had she looked at it directly, it would have been blinding. Not as blinding as the pain in her hand though.

Katey let out a scream of agony as a pain greater than anything she could have ever imagined hit her right hand. She screamed as every bone was broken and the strings buried themselves deep into her flesh, huge gashes in their wake. From the space between her middle and ring finger, and all the way down to the wrist, her hand split up, practically exploded in a fountain of blood.

The strings retracted themselves, reeling in the body of Hot n’ Cold. The cloth had been torn to pieces, much like Katey’s hand. In a flash of energy, the rags disappeared from existence, leaving Katey alone.

Through the haze of unimaginable pain, she heard a sharp sound, and the sun once again beamed on her face.

It is strange what a human in pain will notice in her last moments. The fact that the tall, maroon woman was gone didn’t quite click in Katey’s mind. Nor did she particularly care for the arrival of two new people. Not directly, anyway. No, what bothered her was the helmet on the short red one’s head. Because it was not a helmet; it was hair.

Who the heck has an afro shaped like a cube?

Then the pain and bloodloss rendered her unconscious. 

xxXXxx

[Katey P.]  
An innocent young woman, drawn into this whole mess and forced to attack the Crystal Gems. Has been having a streak of bad luck recently.

Stand: Hot n’ Cold

Appearance: A ”flat puppet” (like a sheet of fabric, or clothes) extending and connected to the user’s hand by thin strings. When first summoned, it takes the appearance of whatever the user is wearing, but more stylized and with inverted colors. When it attaches itself to a victim, it mimics the appearance of said victim.

Notable Powers and Abilities:  
•Don’t Wanna Stay, Don’t Wanna Go-Despite its semi-automatic nature, the user still has to stay within a certain range of the victim, and is always connected to the stand via the strings. Physical objects will pass through the strings, but if the victim moves outside range, the strings will pull on the user, potentially injuring them.  
•In and Out-HnC attaches itself to a victim and pulls out a replica of the person. The replica is identical, aside from being grey in color scale.  
•Love Bipolar-Once partially extracted, the replica will begin attacking the victim. Any attacks aimed at the replica will be reflected back to the opposite point of the victim.

Stats:  
Destructive Power: E  
Speed: B  
Range: B (ca. 40-45 meters)  
Durability: C   
Precision: D  
Development Potential: B

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm terribly sorry for the wait. I seriously underestimated how much time and energy I could put into this project. I hope the chapter was worth the wait...
> 
> Actually, I think I could probably have extended Amethyst's scene a bit, perhaps let it go until they got to the garden where Katey was hiding, then switch to her perspective. Could probably have ended her scene a bit better too. At the same time, I really wanted to get this out as quickly as I could, so here we go.
> 
> Speaking of Katey, kudos goes to DiRunner over on FF.net who correctly guessed the stand user was named after Katy Perry. The stand is, of course, named after her song 'Hot n' Cold,' which can be found in the album 'One of the Boys.'
> 
> \----------  
> Now, on the topic of the next chapter... I have "planned" we'll get another chapter from Hayato's perspective, probably a direct follow-up to his previous chapter. Then we'll get a chapter from the Duwang Gang (which should feature the first real stand battle on their side, so look forward to that) and then we'll back to SU (more specifically featuring Steven, Connie, Peridot, and Lapis).
> 
> As for when it will be ready... I figure I could try and aim for one chapter a week? Is a weekly update schedule acceptable? Perhaps I'll try and lengthen the chapters a bit.
> 
> Whatever I may decide to do until next time, take care of the planet Earth, and remember that anything can happen in space.


	11. Tomoko Higashikata meets Lucky

Chapter 6: Tomoko Higashikata meets Lucky

Tomoko Higashikata was a temperamental woman. She had a short fuse and was quick to anger. She knew this herself. It had gotten her into trouble more than once. It had gotten better with age, as she had matured. Some might say having to raise a kid as a single mother had something to do with that. Bullshit. If anything, it had made it worse. 

Do not for a second think it was Josuke she had been angry with. He had been the most adorable baby in the world, and don’t you dare suggest otherwise. Once he got a bit older though… he could be a pain in the ass.

No, baby Josuke had never, ever, earned the ire of Tomoko. The other young mothers of Morioh though… Even by the ”young mother” standard, 21 was on the younger side, especially considering she had still been college. Tomoko could still remember those condescending smirks, small comments, and chatter behind her back. And they had dared to call her baby boy a bastard.

Tomoko was lucky her father was a policeman, otherwise, she might still be paying off those fines.

Even now, years later, Tomoko could still fell her blood boiling as she thought back to those days. But, they were in the past. She had moved past that. Comparing her rage to a fire was an accurate analogy; it burned up quickly, devouring everything in its path. But as quickly as it flared up, it burned itself out. She remembered how she felt in that moment all those years ago, and it did stir up that old rage. But it didn’t resurface in the same way; she didn’t hate anyone from back then. Tomoko was very much a woman who lived in the now. Keeping a grudge was not her style.

That said, she was not incapable of keeping grudges, oh no. She was doing that right now, as a matter of fact. Today’s target was Jotaro Kujo.

It had been a little more than a year since that man first turned up in Morioh. He had come, practically looking for trouble by tearing up old wounds from the past. Still, that Tomoko could live with. She could live with her past coming back to haunt her.

What she couldn’t live with was her son being put in danger.

It had started with Jotaro spending entire days with Josuke. That in and of itself wasn’t that part that ticked off Tomoko. A nephew spending some time with his long lost uncle was normal enough… even if the traditional roles were switched around. And the nephew was about as antisocial as one can be without being an actual psychopath.

No, what she couldn’t live with was the stupid excuses and cover-up stories. Gone hunting, really? Josuke, going hunting? Please, that boy couldn’t hurt a fly. And if he thought she was so stupid she wouldn’t notice when he came home with bruises, then he might as well come out and say it to her face. Call it mother’s intuition or just common sense, but it was clear as day there was something he wasn’t telling her.

Tomoko was not a woman of regrets. She was not one to let old mistakes haunt her. She learned from them and then moved on. That was who she was and had always been. Right now, she could only think of two regrets. Interestingly, the events that had caused these had happened only after Jotaro showed up in Morioh…

The first was not being at her father’s side when he… passed on. She knew very well that there was nothing she could have done. She knew that the death had been almost instantaneous. But still… a word, a look, a touch… a last farewell.

The second regret was different. That one, she didn’t have any control over. She couldn’t have known in advance, no one could. But for her second regret, it was something she did notice but never did anything about. 

She should have asked Josuke for an explanation. She should have nailed him down and demanded an answer to everything, the bruises, his weird behavior, the lies, and half-truths. That’s what she should have done, that’s what a responsible mother would have done.

But she hadn’t. She had let him keep at it. At the time, it made sense to her. She knew her Josuke, and he wasn’t stupid. He was practically an adult now. He could take care of himself. Beyond that, he was also one of the kindest and gentlest people she knew, only surpassed in her mind by her own father. He had a bit of a temper sometimes and could be rash, but Tomoko trusted him to always do the right thing. Plus, Tomoko hadn’t exactly been a saint herself at his age.

Hindsight was a cruel mistress, wasn’t it? Of course, she should have asked. Wasn’t it obvious? Maybe then her baby wouldn’t have nearly been blown to bits in an explosion caused by a ”gas leak,” or some other bullshit like that. Maybe then, he wouldn’t be gone now, on his way to half-way across the Earth on some trip with the man Tomoko was ninety percent sure was responsible for her Josuke being injured in the first place.

Now, these words may sound like they come from sad and helpless mother, sitting at her kitchen table worrying about her son. Be assure, Tomoko Higashikata was none of those things. While there might be traces of these emotions within her, at the moment they were replaced by another, much more pronounced one. 

Anger.

Tomoko was boiling furious. One of the two types of anger you never want to meet in a dark alley. Or light alley for that matter. For this type of anger is one that consumes everything in its path. The type of anger that breaks doors, floors, tables, walls, and chairs. The only reason Tomoko hadn’t wrecked the entire house was that she had learned to keep this type of anger under check. As in, she would sit down, take a deep breath, and focus every last fiber of her being into channeling pure hatred an malice into one objective. This action didn’t just keep her from destroying everything around her, but also exude an aura of hostility that kept people from getting top close. 

”Ding dong”

Except for that one person who was dumb enough to come visiting right now.

Tomoko was tempted to ignore the bellringer, and simply let them stand there until they went away.

”Ding dong”

That would be the best alternative… lest she is faced with another fine for physical assault. She should probably try to calm down a little too. Her doctor hadn’t mentioned anything at the last check-up, but she had heard about high blood pressure being caused by rage.

”Ding dong”

Tomoko stood up so violently that her chair almost tipped over. Her footsteps practically burned holes in the carpet as she made her way to the door to tell whoever it was to fuck off. Oh whoever it was, they sure were going to pay.

She nearly tore the door off its hinges as she threw it open.

”What the hell do you…want?” Her rhetorical question died halfway through and was turned into an actual question at the sight of who was outside the door.

”Oh! I’m sorry if I come at a bad time. It was not my intention to disturb you in any way.”

A blue woman. A blue-skinned woman, with white-blue hair and a cape. Tomoko wouldn’t say Morioh was home to the most normal of people. Heck, the city had plenty of weirdos. But at least none of them had blue skin. She by no way wanted to sound insensitive, but she was fairly sure people didn’t come in that color.

For a moment, Tomoko was so started, she forgot her anger. Though it soon returned, if dampened somewhat.

”Who are you, what do you want?” she scowled at the woman. To the blue ones’ credit, she didn’t stop smiling, only raising her eyebrow slightly.

”Ah, see, I’m looking for Josuke Higashikata. I was told he lives here?”

”What do you want with Josuke?” Tomoko hissed.

”Hm…” the woman tilted her head. ”I think that it is best if I talk to him about that personally. Could I do that?”

”Josuke’s not hom…” Tomoko stopped herself halfway through the sentence. This woman unnerved her, and it was just more than she was blue. Not, there was something about her… she had a big smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. No, her eyes were focused, a sharp gaze that seemed to cut through Tomoko, see right through her.

”I take it he’s not available at the time." There! right there was that focus, that attention to detail, the one that unnerved Tomoko. As soon as she heard it, the woman had latched onto that half-formed sentence. You could practically see the cogs turning in her head as she analyzed every last little word, deciphering their true meaning.

People like that had always unnerved Tomoko. People who were so good at reading people they could practically predict your every sentence.

”That’s none of your business!” Tomoko said, her anger coming back full force again. ”Who even are you again?”

”Oh, my name? You can call me Lucky.” She extended her hand for a handshake. ”Do you know when Josuke will be coming back?”

So her name was Lucky, eh? A little strange she would omit to tell her last name.

”No!” She ignored the blue woman’s hand. ”What do you want with him anyway?”

The woman blinked, that look of someone considering their next words carefully on her face.

”Does the words ’stand' 'crazy’ or ’diamond’ tell you anything?”

”No,” Tomoko said truthfully. What kinda question was that? A standing crazy diamond? What was that supposed to mean? Then the realization hit her; a stranger shows up looking for Josuke and starts spouting nonsense.

”Do you work for the Speedwagon Foundation?” Tomoko didn’t know exactly what the foundation did, but she did know Jotaro and Joseph were connected to it somehow. And the foundation was well known for having a bunch of weird people working for it.

”Would that change your answer?” the irritating woman Lucky said, that irritating sly grin on her face. You know which one. What was that answer even supposed to mean? It probably meant she didn’t work for the foundation… then again, maybe she did and was just trying to screw Tomoko over. She was playing games with her.

Tomoko decided to try some of it herself.

”Would my answer to that question change your answer?” Ugh, this whole ”mind-games” thing was harder than it looked. That didn’t sound as cool or witty as Tomoko had imagined it.

”Heh, that’s was a funny answer,” Lucky said with a little snort. ”Would you like a banana?” She did indeed pull a banana from somewhere within her cape and offered it to Tomoko, whom could only stare in disbelief. What the hell was this? One second, they’re having some a battle of wits, or something like that, the next, Lucky offers her a banana. See now why she absolutely hates people that do this?

”No, I don’t want a banana,” Tomoko said. Her voice, previously filled with anger had now deflated in a really sad and pathetic way.

”Oh,” the blue woman Lucky seemed legitimately disappointed as she put the banana back in her cape. ”Very well, I don't think there’s much either of us has to gain from a continued conversation. Goodbye, Tomoko Higashikata.” And with that, she turned around and simply started to walk away. Tomoko was so stunned by this, she even forgot to yell at the blue woman to get right back here this instant. Instead, she was left at the door, only a faint breeze keeping her company.

Okay. So that happened.

She should probably go call Josuke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, it seems no one in Morioh City likes bananas. Bummer, eh Lucky?
> 
> Okay, so I said this chapter would be from Hayato’s perspective… and I thought it was going to, I had just planned to make a short scene with Tomoko first. And then my inability to make anything short and concise turned that short scene into an entire chapter. Whoops. 
> 
> In my defense, we probably won’t be seeing any more of Tomoko for the rest of the fic (at least I haven’t planned anything), so maybe it’s for the better I do as much with her short time in the story as I can. Plus, I have planned for Hayato and his new friends to have a multi-act chapter the next time they appear, and there will be a bit more action and information revealed then. So for now, I’ll just keep the fate of Hayato hidden a bit longer.
> 
> So, what’s up next?
> 
> If everything goes according to keikaku, the next chapter shall feature the Duwang Gang dealing with another enemy stand user. Unfortunately, this one is a little more powerful than the last two… yeah, this one gonna be a lot more trouble dealing with.
> 
> So that’s gonna be fun.
> 
> But until next time, take care of the planet Earth, and remember that anything can happen in space!


	12. Everyone Wants To Go To Heaven But No One Wants To Die, Act 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ”Cause you want what you want and you want it now  
> And if you see an opportunity, it doesn’t matter how”

Chapter 7: Everyone Wants To Go To Heaven But No One Wants To Die, Act 1

Whether they admit or not, most people do, on some level, believe themselves to be special. In today’s society, where private information can be shared with the entire world in a few seconds, there is a constant struggle to be special, to stand out. Of course, this is nothing new. People have always seen themselves as the main character from a drama. It is just another flaw humans have and it is not just confined to individuals. All throughout history you can see humanity’s collective narcissism showing. Nations, religions and political parties all like to pretend their people are the better ones compared to everyone else.

If you ask anyone, chances are, they will tell you they don’t consider themselves special. They’ll say they’re just ordinary people. Some will even downplay their own accomplishments. Sometimes, due to genuine modesty, or underestimating their own abilities and impact. Most of the time though, they just want to sound modest, trying to hide the pride swelling in their chests. After all, people tend to give more compliments to the humble one. Again, people want to feel special. Such is the nature of humans.

Most will never realize this. Most live their lives looking for that one thing that will finally prove their specialness. A fair number do wake up from the delusion and understand just how unimportant they are. However, very, very few truly comprehend the severity of the infection that is the human narcism. How thoroughly it penetrates the people, the systems, the world. It is never a pleasant experience.

One of two things happens to those that do. Either they accept it, and wow to spend their short time on this Earth to do as much good as they can. Sure, it might not mean that much in the grand scale of things. But why not make the best out of it? These kinds of people tend to be content, optimistic, generous and great friends. Everyone likes this guy.

Then there’s the other type of person. This one will become bitter and angry with the world. They will reject it and its people, and grow cold and detached. They tend to be easily angered and are overly aggressive. Even in the light of genuine goodness, they will hide behind a veil of cynicism poorly disguised as realism. Very few people like this guy.

This realization, much like the people, typically fall into one of two categories. The first one is the slow, gradual discovery, built over a long time, often years. This is the more ”comfortable” of the two. The other is sudden and violent. One event that completely shakes your world. A second is all it takes, and your perception of the world crumbles to dust.

Jason belonged to the latter group.

Actually, no he didn’t. Remember, most people aren’t special. They lie somewhere in the middle, but rarely in any extreme. Dividing real human beings into categories like that was misleading. Jason lied somewhere close to the middle of the bell curve. He had, during the last few years, started to realize the sad truth of humanity. Then, just two days ago had the straw that broke the camel’s back come to him. Something within him had broken alongside it.

And he felt better than ever because of it.

Oh, it had ignited a rage within him. He was angry with the world, with its people for sure. But it was a comforting anger. He knew it was righteous, that they deserved it. At the same time, he understood that he was no better. Humans are by their very nature corrupt. In the end, they were nothing more than naked apes, animals. Oh, had they tried to hide it! Since the dawn of civilization, humanity had strived to separate themselves from all the other animals.

In a way, Jason agreed on trying to make that distinction. Humans were far worse than animals when it comes to taking.

And now… Jason had the power to prove it.

xxXXxx

It was with some effort that Jotaro restrained himself from muttering another ’yare yare’ as he settled in his seat. Dealing with the two assassins had been easy enough. The aftermath on the other hand? Now that was a pain. A mixture of questioning, apologies, and thanks had kept the four travelers busy way longer than Jotaro would have liked. As had just been demonstrated, time was the enemy. Santana had already sent two assassins after them. That did not bode well. They could not afford any delays.

Thankfully, they had made it onto their plane in time. Jotaro allowed himself to relax a bit. Being friends with the Speedwagon Foundation had its benefits. Not only had they gotten them four seats in first class, but almost half of the entire first class section. All seats around theirs’ had been booked. A smart move. Now they could talk a bit more openly about their mission without having to worry about eavesdroppers.

One thing, in particular, had come to mind…

”Hey, Jotaro,” Okuyasu said. ”So, what was that thing you took from those two stand users? Was it some kind of mind-controlling stand or something?”

”No,” Jotaro said. ”It was a fleshbud.” Okuyasu frowned, and make quick glances over at Josuke and Koichi as if to ask if they understood. They didn’t but were better at hiding it.

”A… fleshbud?” he said after a few seconds of silence. 

”It’s a vampire trick,” Jotaro explained. ”A lump, or a spore of vampire cells planted on a human. It allows them to dominate a person’s thought and control their actions.” An image from many years ago flashed by Jotaro’s inner image. A high school student in green and a silver-haired Frenchman. ”The effect can be broken by simply removing it from the victim, but you have to be careful; it will try to attack you and the victim. Use your stands and be sure to crush it or expose it to sunlight to destroy it.”

The boys all nodded in understanding, though Okuyasu still had one more question.

”So, um, these ’fleshbuds’…” He even raised his hand. ”Do they, uh… if they’re put on a person and the vampire dies…”

”Yes,” Jotaro answered. ”It was a fleshbud that transformed your father into what he is now when DIO died.” A sting of guilt nearly prompted Jotaro to apologize, but he refrained. Okuyasu understood.

 

Josuke nodded, a bit taken aback. ”Wow, these things really aren’t human, are they?” he said. A rhetorical question. ”I mean… I figured they’d be a little human, just stronger and sucking blood, but…”

”…they’re not.” In an atypical move for him, Koichi interrupted and finished the sentence for Josuke. ”They’re… actual monsters.”

”You’re right, Koichi,” Jotaro said.”They start out as humans, but in the process of becoming a vampire, they abandon their humanity. They may look and sound like it, but always remember. Vampires are not humans. They’re monsters.” Jotaro sighed and adjusted his cap before continuing. ”And Santana wasn’t even human, to begin with.”

One of those silences that make people so uncomfortable settled between the four of them. Josuke tried to break it.

”So, um… where are we were going now again?”

Ah, yes. That was a very good question. Jotaro was both surprised, and somewhat disappointed none of the three teens had asked until now. Maybe not Okuyasu, but Josuke or Koichi at least. Admittedly, he had been avoiding the subject himself. There were… certain complications in place. To be honest, Jotaro wasn’t sure what to make of the situation.

”Not any place you would know of.” From the inside of his coat, he produced a small pamphlet. ’Welcome to Beach City!’ it said in big golden letters on the front, accompanied by an idyllic shot of the ocean. ”Beach City. A small town in the state of Delmarva.” The inside of the pamphlet had a simplified map of the US showing its location. ”Barely a hundred permanent inhabitants. Mostly tourists and summer vacationers.”

”And that’s where Santana is?” Okuyasu said. ”Did he need a sunny vacation after being trapped for so long?”

Jotaro decided to ignore that last part. Okuyasu would figure it out eventually.

”That seems to be the case. The Speedwagon Foundation had put a tracker on Santana. He has removed it by now, but before it was destroyed, it showed him approaching Beach City. His route the last few days confirm this.”

Josuke had grabbed the pamphlet and started reading it. It didn’t take too long, since the pamphlet wasn’t very thick, and most of it was images anyways. 

”Hm… but what would he want…?” he mumbled. He looked up, a thoughtful look on his face. ”You seemed pretty sure he was going there… why? How do you know that’s the place he’s heading? Is there something in Beach City he wants?”

And there it was.

”We don’t know,” Jotaro said. ”However… we believe there is something he wants there yes. But we have absolutely no idea what it could be. What I just told you is everything the Foundation knows about the place.”

This cryptic statement caused a few raised eyebrows. Or rather, two of them. Okuyasu frowned instead, trying to figure out if he was supposed to understand what he didn’t.

”What… what do you mean that’s all you know?” Koichi asked, and rightfully so. On the surface, Jotaro’s words may have sounded perfectly reasonable. After all, why would he know any more than what he had already told them? But the way he said those words… implied something, a deeper meaning.

”Yare yare…” Jotaro cursed himself internally. He had it slip again. Had he been a superstitious kind, he would probably see this as a bad omen. He sighed and reached for the briefcase he had brought with him. From it, he extracted a world map. Not awfully detailed, but adequate for its purpose. He showed it to the three teens. A bunch of red crosses was spread throughout the map, marking places all around the planet.

”These crosses…” Koichi muttered as his eyes darted between them. One, in particular, caught his eye. ”That’s Beach City, right?” he said and placed his finger on one cross that was, indeed, placed right where Beach City would be.

”Correct, Koichi,” Jotaro said. ”Do you know what all of these places have in common?” Their looks told him everything; they didn’t. ”All of these places are known for strange things,” Jotaro explained. ”The Foundation gets thousands of reports every year about strange phenomena happening in these places. Supernatural phenomena.”

He made paused for a moment to let it sink in. Josuke and Koichi were now frowning too. Okuyasu looked a bit more relieved now that he had realized he was just as lost as his friends.

”As you know, the Speedwagon Foundation is largely dedicated to investigating supernatural events. Vampires, pillar men, stands… but also other things, like ghosts, haunted places, and monsters, stuff like that. If anything weird happens, it is the Foundation’s duty to look into it.” Another pause. ”However, there are places in the world where the Foundation is not allowed to go." He gestured to the map. The crosses mark those.”

”…not allowed? What exactly do you mean by that?” Josuke asked. ”They’re forbidden to? By whom? These are all over the world, so it can’t just be one country’s government… even then, couldn’t the Foundation get past those? I mean, they’ve got tons of resources and contacts and agents. They’ve got you, and a bunch of other stand users too, right? There shouldn’t be any place on the planet they couldn’t go.”

”You’re correct Jouske,” Jotaro replied, ”I asked the same thing. But no, it doesn’t have anything to do with any world government. Turns out, old man Speedwagon, the guy who founded the organization, personally forbid them. After gramps fought the pillar men, he turned up with this map, telling them that they were under no circumstances allowed to visit these places.”

”That… doesn’t make any sense,” Koichi said. ”A map? Where did he get it… or rather, from who did he get it? And why would it be so important no one visit them he would tell his entire organization…?”

Ah, Koichi had hit his head on the nail. That was the question, wasn’t it? What had made Mr. Speedwagon so sure these locations needed to be avoided at all costs? Where had he gotten the map? Who had given it to him? What secret did these places hold that made them so dangerous? Jotaro had tried asking gramps about it, but the old fool had refused to answer, only insisting it was important the Foundation kept away from those dozen or so places.

”I don’t know,” Jotaro admitted. ”No one does. However… we can make guesses.” He picked up a document folder from the briefcase. Those were all major reports regarding these mysterious locations. ”Rumors of these places go back a long time. Several thousand years in many cases.” From the folder, he produced a series of photographs of ancient paintings. The paintings showed the most bizarre structures. Upside-down pyramids, enormous swords stuck in the ground in a grassy field, a tower surrounded by a giant whirlpool. ”Many of them appear to be way more advanced than anything humans at the time could have built. But the pillar men civilization was centuries ahead of humans at the time, maybe even millennia. From this, we can draw one conclusion…”

”They were built by pillar men,” Josuke finished Jotaro’s sentence.

”Exactly,” Jotaro said. He grabbed another couple of photographs from the folder. ”These photographs were taken two days ago via satellite,” he explained as he handed them out. The first few photographs didn’t look too exciting, just some bird’s eye view pictures of the small town. A bunch of streets and houses. An admittedly pretty neat-looking beach, a large green hill, ending in a cliff… and something else at the end of the cliff.

”Hey, Jotaro, what’s this?” Okuyasu asked, waving the photo in front of him. ”Some weird stone formation-thing.”

Without saying anything else, Jotaro grabbed the last of the photographs from the file. The image had been taken from a passing boat and uploaded to a private blog a few weeks ago. It showed the end of the cliff Okuyasu had asked about. An enormous, masked statue sat there, staring out over the ocean like an ancient sea goddess.

”So… anyone willing to bet whatever Santana’s looking for, it has something to do with that thing?” Josuke asked. No one answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, now, before you blow up the comment section: Yes, I'm aware there wasn't anything major revealed in this chapter at all. No major plot-related stuff at all, just filler. Yup, nothing at all, no twist or cliffhanger endings.
> 
> At least I kinda introduced this chapter's villain, and by 'villain,' I mean the next obstacle for our heroes to beat up.
> 
> I don't have too much to say other than that. As stated, this chapter contained next to no important plot points. None at all.
> 
> The one-updater-a-week schedule seems to work fairly well... so expect the Chapter 7, Act 2 next Wednesday. I figure it'll be set from either Okuyasu's or Koichi's perspective, so if you've been waiting for them to make their POV debut, look forward to that.
> 
> Until then, take care of the planet Earth and remember that anything can happen in space!
> 
> P.S. as always, any guesses as to who the new stand user is, or what their stand might be is appreciated. Now, this one is Swedish as well, but it shouldn't be impossible... okay, maybe a little impossible.


	13. Everyone Wants To Go To Heaven But No One Wants To Die, Act 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so, so so sorry for the wait! Though in my defense, this week has been quite a ride…I got a new job, a suit, a parking ticket, and a new haircut… and that was just Wednesday! I haven't even mentioned the national exam or those new SU episodes!
> 
> Speaking of which… those two episodes… they were something, weren’t they? Everything is different now… including this fic. I think most reading this already have already seen them, but I want to be on the safe side.
> 
> WARNING: If you haven’t seen Steven Universe season 5, episode 18 (A Single Pale Rose) DO NOT READ THE NOTE AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER.
> 
> SPOILER WARNING
> 
> Seriously though, I do not want to spoil that episode
> 
> Hopefully, this delay in updates was only temporary, and you can expect the third Act of chapter 7 next Sunday.

Chapter 7: Everyone Wants To Go To Heaven But No One Wants to Die, Act 2

”I wanna live well like the rich do  
If they're ruthless, then I am too”

Oh, the power was almost intoxicating! Better than any alcohol or drug. Yes! Power over others, that was the greatest high there was! To know, that at any moment he wished, he could kill everyone on the plane… nothing could compare to that feeling.

It wasn’t even that he wanted to kill those people. He was only after four of them. But the knowledge that he could, that was where it was at. Now he finally understood why people fought so hard over power. 

Jason had never had much power. Though he hadn’t exactly been powerless before either. He could do as he pleased most of the times. As long as he kept within the constraints and expectations society and other people placed on him that was. So you tell me: did Jason have power? If you’re ruled over by the laws or other people, can you honestly say you have ”power” or ”free will?”

After all, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a king or a peasant. Gravity still pulls on both. Both will fall. Both die. Both want to go to heaven. But neither wants to die.

xxXXxx

”So… anyone willing to bet whatever Santana’s looking for, it has something to do with that thing?”

There was a quiet moment. The question didn’t need answering. The answer was quite obvious. Whatever that statue was, there was no doubt Santana was after it. The question then was…

”Yes, we believe so,” Jotaro said.

”But what for?” Koichi asked. He had taken the picture after Josuke and was taking a closer look. Ominous as it was, he had to admit it was pretty beautiful. Like an ancient Hindu goddess, it had several arms. at least four, maybe six that Koichi could see in the picture. Most had been broken off, and large parts were covered in moss and climber plants. Despite its deteriorating state, however, it was still a magnificent sight to behold. On top of its head rested a mask, one of the ones the pillar men used to turn humans into vampires, Koichi assumed. 

”We don’t know,” Jotaro said. He muttered something just too low for Koichi to be able to hear it. ”But… we have our suspicions.”

The statue was holding something in its hands. Or rather, two of its arms seemed to be holding something. Koichi squinted, trying to make out what it could be. It looked almost like… a house? Why would someone build a house in the hands of an ancient statue built by man-eating monsters? 

”There’s a bit more to the pillar men than I told you before,” Jotaro continued. ”There is a reason why they had been sleeping for two thousand years in rocks and why there were only four left.” He pulled yet another file from his briefcase. It had a couple of images of the pillar men from when they were encapsulated in rock, of the stone masks, and… a gemstone?

”A long time ago, the pillar men had an advanced civilization. They were apex predators, feeding on humans, with only one weakness: the sun,” Jotaro explained. ”In an attempt to overcome this weakness, the pillar man known as Kars started experimenting, trying to unlock their full potential. The stone masks were tools to accomplish this. However, he needed one more component.” He held up the image of the red gemstone.

”The red stone of Aja, also known as the super Aja. When combined with the stone mask… it allows a pillar man to… evolve.”

”Evolve?” Josuke said. ”Whaddya mean by that?”

”I mean that it allows the pillar man to evolve… evolve into the ultimate life-form.”

Koichi wasn’t sure he knew what that meant. Ultimate life-form? The pillar men sounded pretty ultimate already, what could there possibly be higher than that? But the tone Jotaro used… it let Koichi know it was something bad. Something, very, very bad.

”In essence, it turns them into unkillable, unstoppable, perfect organisms. It’s bad news.” He paused. ”And Kars got his hands on the stone.”

Throughout the beginning of this journey, Koichi had this feeling somewhere in his stomach. He recognized it well, though he couldn’t quite name it. It was the same feeling he got when he was doing a presentation in class or was afraid to disappoint his mom. It was a heavy, sinking feeling. It felt like it was weighing him down.

One stray thought passed through his mind. Maybe that’s where Act 3 gets its power?

”And… what happened then?” he asked Jotaro. Jotaro made a grunting sound, which might have been his way of chuckling.

Koichi knew he wasn’t much of a fighter… Sure, Act 3 was a decently powerful stand, but he himself just wasn’t cut out for fighting. He also knew he was probably in above his head with this adventure. Stands in all their glory, but prehistoric vampires and ultimate life-forms... If he was honest with himself, the thought made Koichi shake in fear. How could he ever think he stood a chance? What had he been thinking?

”The old man shot him into space.”

Wait, what?

Koichi blinked in surprise. Jotaro had said it with a completely straight face… granted, he said everything with a straight face, but still. Shot into space?

”Hold on, space?” Okuyasu piped up. 

”Yes,” Jotaro said. there was a shadow of a smile on his lips. ”Gramps set off a volcano, and shot Kars into space.”

You know what? Koichi didn’t care anymore. That sinking feeling in his gut, all of his anxiety and fear, they could all skedaddle to where the pepper grows.

”He shot him into space with a volcano? Damn, Josuke, your dad must have been really cool back in the day!” Okuyasu laughed and slapped Josuke on the back. Josuke blushed and muttered something intelligible.

”So you think Santana might be trying to become this, um… ultimate life-form too? That there’s something in this statue he needs?”

Koichi had always been scared. Sure, he might live in a constant state of fear. But he wasn’t really that brave of a guy either. And that was even before his universe got invaded by the supernatural. For example, if someone got bullied in school, you could trust Josuke of Okuyasu to stand up for them. Not Koichi. He’d look the other way because he was scared.

”That does seem to be the case,” Jotaro said. ”He has the stone mask. However, he would still need a super Aja. According to Gramps, there was only one stone.”

Koichi was tired of that. He was tired of being afraid, of being so weak. He thought back to that day when he had first encountered Kira. The invincible stand Sheer Heart Attack had taken out Jotaro, leaving Koichi alone to deal with it. It had nearly killed him. But… Koichi had stood his ground. In spite of the impossible odds, despite the fact that his stand couldn’t do anything against the tank… he had stayed. And he had matured that day.

”Why do I sense there’s a ’but’ in there?” Josuke said.

Koichi had read somewhere that being brave meant doing something even though you are scared. If that was true, then Koichi decided, that from now on out, he was going to be brave. He wasn’t going to run or look the other way. He was going to fight, even against the worst of odds, and he was going to do it alongside his friends.

”But we don’t know where the stone is. The Foundation collected Santana and the stone mask after the incident. But gramps refused to tell me where the stone is. All he said is that it’s in safe hands.”

While he had been thinking, Koichi had kept one ear listening to the others. That last part, in particular, caught his attention. Safe hands? Safer than the Speedwagon Foundation’s? This whole thing was turning out to be a great mystery. And it all leads back to when the pillar men had first awakened from their sleep. What had really happened back then?

Koichi was about to ask a question to that effect, but he silenced himself before he even opened his mouth. In the corner of his eye, he had seen another passenger on the other side of the cabin standing up. It was a middle-aged man in a casual business suit. He was looking…no, starring at them. His eyes seemed to be transfixed on Jotaro and Josuke in particular. It was quite unnerving.

A couple in the row in front of him looked back at the man, though the did their best to make it look like they didn’t. Jotaro too had noticed, but he was a lot less subtle about his annoyance. 

”What are you looking at? Mind your own goddamn business!” The correct answer would be not to say anything, but to look away and pretend you never looked in that direction ever in your life. Jotaro was the kinda guy whom you looked on, and just knew he could, and would kick your ass if you annoyed him. Now, that was what you’d see if you, as a stranger, just looked at him once. If you actually got to know him… you’d know it was true.

However, this man seemed to lack the usual survival instinct all other living beings had. He didn’t look away, but his stare actually intensified. His eyes opened wide and… they were black.

Koichi blinked in surprise. The man’s eyes were completely black; not just the pupil or the iris, but the entire eye. Like a bird’s. 

The couple had given up all pretense of not looking at the incident unfolding, they were both looking openly, quite excited to see where it was going. What they didn’t see was a small wisp of black smoke moving right behind them. Not even when it moved right up to their faces, and into their nostrils did they react.

”ORA!” The sudden cry from Star Platinum and the shockwave nearly blew Koichi of his seat. The mighty stand’s fist was mere centimeters from his face. Just two centimeters, if Koichi had moved when Star Platinum did… he would be one head shorter.

”We are under attack by an enemy stand,” Jotaro declared, as the full form of Star Platinum appeared beside him. ”Sorry Koichi, but it was about to get you too.”

Indeed, a wisp of smoke had moved right under Koichi’s face as he sat staring at the other passengers. Only Jotaro blowing it away with Star Platinum had stopped it from… doing what exactly?

Koichi turned back to look at the other three passengers. The couple had inhaled the smoke. Their eyes were black now too, just like the other man. And they looked absolutely furious. Boiling with anger, pure, unadulterated, animalistic fury.

”Ah, very impressive! Very impressive, indeed! A mighty stand you have!” A man stood in the door between first class and business class. Clad in a big (fake) fur coat and sporting a pencil-thin mustache, he gave the impression of someone who wanted to pull of the ’gangsta’ look, but just couldn’t get it right. All the essentials were there, but something was missing.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t confidence. The man oozed of that, from his stance to his cruel smile. The white aura of spiritual power and black mist surrounding him probably also had something to do with it.

”Perhaps I should introduce myself?” The man did a mocking bow. ”I am Jason Timbuktu, and I’m here to kill you.” With that, the smoke around him gathered itself, forming a humanoid figure… A ghastly replica of Star Platinum made from the black smoke hovered in front of the man.

”Star Platinum: The World!”

If the copy could stand up against the original, they would never get to know. Because the instant it formed, Jotaro appeared in front of it, Star Platinum’s fist raised…

”ORA ORA ORA ORA!” with a fierce roar, the real Star Platinum unleashed a barrage of punches on the imposter. Its fists had little effect, however, as it only served to spread out the smoke once again. Black tendrils moved around Jotaro, headed straight towards the three teens behind him.

”DORARARARA!” Now it was Crazy Diamond’s turn to let out its battle cry, as its fists hit the smoke, spreading it out further. 

”Y-you dumbasses!” the man known as Jason Timbuktu said. ”Your stands may be strong, but that means noting against my…” He didn’t get much further, as Jotaro’s fist connected with his face, knocking the man off his feet. Around him, Star Platinum seemingly grew multiple pairs of arms, as it kept the wisps of smoke at bay. Behind him, the three teens did the same with their stands.

”Hmph,” Jotaro mumbled. ”Mist stands are such a pain to deal with.” And the mighty stand Star Platinum took a breath.

Now, to the uninitiated, Star Platinum might look like a pretty simple stand. It was strong and fast, and that was about it. In this mad world, that did seem a bit dull. People that thought like that often found themselves on the receiving end of a beatdown, because they had underestimated Star Platinum’s versatility. One of its less appreciated abilities was the ability to take really deep breathes.

”What the actual…” Jason muttered as he watched his smokey stand getting sucked into the astral lungs of Star Platinum. He starred in absolute disbelief. To be honest, Koichi did too. Seriously, it was kinda stupid. But hey, as long as it worked… Which it did, Soon, all the black smoke was cleared, contained within the strong lungs of Star Platinum.

”That is unless you know how to handle them,” Jotaro said. The image of Star Platinum was ruined somewhat, as its chest had inflated, and its chins stuffed like a hamster’s. Still, one would need nerves of steel not to be the least bit afraid as it hovered just behind the man in white, waiting for the next opportunity to unleash its fists.

”Did-did you just eat my stand?” the enemy stand user said, still on the floor, after Jotaro knocked him down. ”No… you inhaled it! Like cigarette smoke!”

Jotaro grunted as he grabbed the man by his shirt, and lifted him off the floor.

”Yeah, that is a good analogy. Now, tell me. Did Santana send you? Where is he, and what does he want? Tell me now, and I promise I won't break anything important.”

To everyone’s surprise, the man didn’t shiver in fear. No, he… laughed?

”He, he, he… That’s it… you breathed it in.” A slow giggle turned into an all-out manic laughter. ”Oh, you just made my job so much easier. Thank you, you stupid fucking dumbass!”

Koichi saw Jotaro’s shoulders tense at those last words. He expected Star Platinum to throw a punch, but instead… Jotaro let the man go? His back was turned against them, so they couldn’t see his face. Yet, Koichi felt a shiver travel down his spine.

”You know…” the man Jason said as he corrected his fur coat. ”What I said before wasn’t a lie. Strength means nothing against my stand.”

Jotaro turned around and faced the three teens. His eyes were black like a bird’s.

”After all… the greatest enemy is the one within.”

”ORA!” Star Platinum roared as it lunged forward, a bone-shattering punch aimed squarely at Koichi's head.

"To bring that out… the worst parts of a human being… that is my stand. That is To Heaven!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One last warning: SPOILERS!! Do not read if you haven't seen ”A Single Pale Rose”
> 
> …
> 
> Just don’t
> 
> …
> 
> Don't think I don't see you scrolling there, Mr. Curious-in-a-cone!
> 
> …
> 
> We good?
> 
> Okay, so Rosie Q is Pinkie D. First of, congratulations to all you ”Rose is Pink” theorists. I’m sorry I ever laughed at you. I bow my head before your superior intellect and wisdom.
> 
> As much as I loved the twist, and look forward to seeing what's coming next, this does throw some wrenches into my planning for this fic. I don't want to get too heavy on the spoilers, but I do have something planned that does require Rose and Pink to be, you know, different people.
> 
> Now, I don’t have a strict plan that I follow per se, more like several plot points, scenes and moments that I want to write. Most of everything else is just a way to get there, connecting the dots, so to say. Now, for this specific plot point, there has been some set-up, but not a whole lot. I could change it, and most of you would probably never notice.
> 
> As a matter of fact, I kinda wanna change it… because it opens so many juicy opportunities for drama and just loads of cool stuff. (cough, jasperdemption arc, cough)
> 
> But I won’t. I’ll stick to my plan. So, in this universe, Rose and Pink are different gems. Rose shattered Pink during the rebellion. There is some more backstory, regarding Rose and Pearl, but you’ll have to continue reading the story to find that out.
> 
> That’s all I have to say about that. Next chapter whenever.
> 
> Until next time, protect the planet Earth and remember that anything can happen in Steven Universe.


	14. Everyone Wants To Go To Heaven But No One Wants To Die, Act 3

Chapter 7: Everyone Wants To Go To Heaven But Nobody Wants to Die, Act 3

”We’re headed somewhere, and I don’t know where  
I hope we can figure it out while the planet's still here”

One of the neat little extra abilities To Heaven possessed was the ability to measure the strength of a person’s soul. And because a stand is connected to a person’s soul, the strength of that soul determines the strength of the stand. Of course, strength meant nothing before To Heaven’s main ability. Didn’t make it any less useful though.

Take, for example, the two idiots that had been sent alongside him on this mission. Jason had slipped a small wisp of To Heaven into each of them, and wouldn’t you know it they were laughably weak. He was pretty sure a rat had more spiritual potential than the two of them combined. That’s how he knew they would lose. He didn’t even use his full ability on them. Even with his assistance, they would lose, and it was much more satisfying watching them fail just so utterly.

No, Jason had known that he needed the big guy. The man Jotaro Kujo. He had told to watch out for him in particular. Supposedly he was (or rather used to be) the strongest stand user in the world. Even stronger than the one known as DIO. But strength meant nothing before To Heaven.

Jason watched as Jotaro’s Star Platinum launched a mighty punch against the midget. Right before its fist connected, you could see his eyes widen in shock at the sight of this… the last thing he would ever see.

”DORA!”

The small bastard was lucky he had strong friends. A pink fist clad in silver-blue armor intercepted the punch just before his head became mush.

”Oi, Jotaro!” said the teen with the stupid hair. ”What the hell are you doing?” Josuke Higashikata. Another dangerous stand user. Supposedly, his stand, Crazy Diamond, was the second strongest in the world.

”Yeah, what’s wrong? Why did you attack Koichi like that?” said the second teen. Okuyasu Nijimura. His stand, The Hand was also supposed to be very dangerous, though the man himself was not very bright. Not that it would really matter if he was or not. After all, strength meant nothing before To Heaven.

”Okuyasu, I-I think Jotaro has been possessed!” said the midget. ”He sucked up the man’s stand… I think it’s controlling him! That must be his power. He can take control over anyone who breathes in a part of his stand!”

Whoop dee freakin’ doo. What, you want a prize or something, brat? A toddler could figure that out! Though some of the details were wrong. He was not actually in control, per se… just enough. Those punches Jotaro's Star Platinum was throwing? That was Jotaro willing them to be, alright. That anger, the blind hatred that caused him to do it? It all existed within him before To Heaven even came into existence. It was within all humans. To Heaven simply provided a spark, put fuel on the fire and gave it a target.

”ORA!” Star Platinum launched another punch, this time at Jouske himself. ”ORA! ORA! ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!” It almost seemed to grow several new pairs of arms, each one intent on killing the life out of that stupid-haired teen and his stupid hair.

”DORARARARARARARARARA!” However, Crazy Diamond was not far behind, as it blocked every single punch of Star Platinum with punches of its own. It seemed like the two might be equal…

THUUM!

A deep base sound, the distorted sound of messing with reality vibrated through the air. The Hand had swiped its, uh, hand in an arc through the space in front of it. Space seemed to contort and collapse in on itself. And so, Jotaro found himself violently pulled to the side, throwing of Star Platinum’s punches.

”Sorry Jotaro sir, but I think we gotta kick the, uh, stand out of you,” Okuyasu said as The Hand raised its left hand to throw a punch of its own. ”I mean, that’s what we’ve got to do rig…” A satisfying ’crack’ could be heard when Star Platinum’s fist connected with the bumbling idiot’s face, and he flew backwards into one of the seats, blood running from his face.

One would believe that even the legendary Jotaro Kujo would have trouble against two other strong stand users…

”Act 3!” yelled the midget Koichi. A small, white and green humanoid stand appeared before him. ”Three Freeze!” 

Jason scoffed at the thought. It had become quite clear to him that he wasn’t needed here anymore. He had done what he came to do. Time to go sit back and enjoy the show as these animals tore each other apart. Another one of To Heaven’s abilities; it allowed him to see through the eyes of those he used it on. 

Only the intervention of Josuke had again saved the midget from certain death. Jason didn’t know what ’act three three freeze’ was supposed to mean, but it was not like it mattered. Jotaro had simply vanished at the spot as soon as the white stand performed its attack. He had appeared right behind the midget, Star Platinum’s hand raised, ready to perform a karate chop to separate his arm from his shoulder…

In the split second he had, Josuke moved Crazy Diamond at lightning speed, grabbing Star Platinum’s hand just before it could reach its target. Star Platinum tried to punch the annoyance away but ended up having its other hand grabbed as well.

Back in the real world, Jason heard Josuke saying something through gritted teeth.

”Koichi! Okuyasu and I can handle Jotaro, you go get the stand user!”

And wouldn’t you know it, the midget actually did it! He nodded to the stupid-haired teen and rushed after Jason. Very well, if he wanted to play with the big boys, Jason would give him something to play with.

It was funny... no, poetic. It was poetic. These three people, plus the midget... he had been told they were dangerous, that they shouldn’t be underestimated. Pah! If anything, he had overestimated them. Were they so arrogant they didn’t realize To Heaven could affect multiple people? Jason had figured that out within minutes! Of course, the effect wasn’t visible immediately… still not an excuse. He had turned the entire plane into a ticking timebomb, and the fools hadn't even noticed!

The small boy burst into the next section of the plane, business class. Jason didn’t even look back. He had a seat in economy class, so that’s where he should be. He didn’t want to break any rules, did he? He did give a thought to the situation and the people seated in business class. A thought to the small wisps of mist within them, small fragments of gaseous darkness. With this quick thought, the darkness Jason had placed within the people tingled on the darkness already inside them. It awoke, like a monster with, seething blood and sharp, red teeth. Oh, what a beautiful destructive force! All it needed was a little focus, and…

Every person present turned their eyes towards the midget, their eyes black like a bird’s.

Hell was unleashed.

xxXXxx

Koichi’s heart was racing as he pursued the enemy stand user. He had nearly died two times in the last five minutes. And Jotaro had been the one to attack him.

To be honest, he should probably be a lot gladder he was alive then he already was. He had no doubt that Jotaro could have killed him. He had seen first-hand just what kind of power Star Platinum possessed. Especially his stopped time… truly, it was a terrifying stand. They were lucky he was (usually) on their side.

A twinge of worry for his friend shot through his heart like an arrow of ice. He had no doubt in his mind or soul that Josuke and Okuyasu were powerful. But could they fight against Jotaro? It was not just power either; Jotaro had, under the influence of To Heaven, attacked with pure killing intent. Could the two defend themselves against that? Even if it meant hurting Jotaro? Crazy Diamond could fix almost anything broken, sure. But it had its limits. It couldn’t restore what The Hand erased…

Koichi shook his head and banished the thought from his mind. They wouldn't have to fight Jotaro for long if Koichi finished his mission quickly enough… All Koichi had to do was catch up with the enemy, Jason, and defeat him. Star Platinum had inhaled Jason Timbuktu’s entire stand. That might give him control over Jotaro, but it also deprived him of his only defense.

Koichi yelped in surprise as one of the other passengers suddenly grabbed him by the arm. A man, no older than fifty, but already balding had grabbed ahold of his arm. He didn’t look like he was very well trained, but the man practically lifted Koichi of his feet.

”And what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he yelled, a wind of bad breath roughly caressing Koichi’s face. ”Didn’t you parents tell you, you little shit? No running!”

His eyes were completely black and his face warped with raw, primitive anger. He aimed a punch at Koichi’s gut, but Koichi was faster.

”Act 3!” he yelled, and his stand appeared before him. ”Three Freeze!” The sound stand punched the man’s hand once. As if a 100kg weight had been put on it, the man’s hand was pulled down towards the floor, and the man after it. He let go of Koichi and…

With an almost inhuman screech, Koichi was attacked from behind by a woman. She grabbed his face, her long nails burying themselves in his skin, leaving red clawing marks.

”Beeetch!” Echoes proclaimed as it let go of the man, and instead punched the woman, applying Three Freeze to her. She immediately dropped down, unable to move under her added weight.

Then the first man continued his assault, now with the added assistance of two other men and one woman and…

It was then that Koichi realized the entire cabin was attacking him, all at the same time. A mass of people, their eyes, faces, and voices filled with a dark, burning fury. They were like animals… no, worse. Animal anger is born from survival instincts. This… completely unnatural rage… it wasn’t even human. Only the power of a stand could do this.

That bastard… had he infected the entire plane with this madness?

It was then that Koichi suddenly remembered the three other people in first class.

xxXXxx

This was just ’great.’ He knew he would calm down later, but right now, Josuke was furious. Furious at Jotaro for doing something so stupid as inhaling Jason Timbuktu’s stand. What was he thinking?

”Yare yare,” Josuke muttered as Jotaro launched another Oraora barrage at him. He figured that if Jotaro wasn’t around to do it, then he might as well do it himself.

”ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!” Star Platinum yelled. The dark smoke of To heaven puffed from its mouth with every ’ora.’

”DORARARARA!” Crazy Diamond met Star Platinum in a clash of raw power and speed. The dark smoke was caught in strong gusts of wind the two stands produced and was promptly blown away. Josuke could see it trying to reform in the corner of his eyes but to little use. The Hand would just scoop it up and erase them from the reality.

The clash between Crazy Diamond and Star Platinum only lasted three or four seconds. He could’ve kept going, but Josuke didn’t want to take the risk. Jotaro did seem a bit… unlike himself due to whatever To Heaven was doing to him. He was not fighting as smart as he usually did.

Which was a good thing, that meant Josuke and Okuyasu could use a simple strategy to keep him at bay. Josuke would meet one of his attack-rushes. Meanwhile, Okuyasu maneuvered behind Jotaro, and used The Hand to pull him away from Jouske. When Jotaro tried to attack Okuyasu, Josuke would intercept him with Crazy Diamond. Rinse and repeat until Koichi beat the guy responsible for this.

There was one obvious weakness to this stratagem however; Jotaro’s frozen time. If he stopped time, two seconds was enough to kill one of them. Thankfully, even though he had used it earlier to avoid Koichi’s Echoes, he hadn’t used it since. Josuke figured it had something to do with how To heaven operated. During the course of the battle, Jotaro had become less and less refined, less intelligent. Star Platinum seemed to almost be just flailing in the general direction of Josuke, like the beast it looked so much like. Not that Josuke was complaining, that would make it easier to distract, or even defeat him. Josuke happened to have a little surprise for Jotaro the next time he turned his back to face Okuyasu…

THUUM!

Jotaro was pulled backwards again. With an uncharacteristic roar, he turned to the punk who had summoned him.

Seeing his chance, Josuke picked up a small round object from his pocket. A small steel bearing. He had started carrying them around after the fight against Kira… He should probably have started doing it already after the whole ordeal with the rats. Powerful as it was, Crazy Diamond had pitiful range.

Wasting no time, the pink warrior stand took the bearing in its hand. From this distance, he could not miss, but he had to make sure he didn’t hit…

The moment he shot the bearing, something grabbed him from behind, throwing off his aim. Instead of hitting Jotaro’s back, in the upper right lung, it hit his shoulder. However, Josuke didn’t have time to worry about what his nephew was gonna do to him as payback, because he had more pressing matters on his back.

The man that had been staring at them before Jason attacked had clung himself to Josuke’s back, clawing, kicking and even biting. He had gone completely nuts!

On the other end of the cabin, the couple was attacking Okuyasu like a pair of rabid dogs.

What had gotten into these people?

Jotaro suddenly stood in front of him again, black mist leaking from the mouth of Star Platinum as it once again attacked.

”ORA!”

xxXXxx

Koichi had to beat To Heaven’s user. Right now.

Act 3 could only affect one thing at a time, so he couldn't just increase every person’s weight… but Act 3 wasn’t without physical power. While it lacked the terrifying strength of Star Platinum or Crazy Diamond or the absolutely destructive power of The Hand, it was fast and stronger than a human.

Koichi remembered when he had first gained Echoes, forcibly unlocked by the stand arrow. Back then, it was just an egg, so he couldn’t do anything. All he could do was watch as Josuke fought against Bad Company, the stand of Keicho Nijimura. Something Josuke said back then…

”Just like Moses, who parted the Red Sea and walked across its floor, I’m gonna make my way through your army and beat you down! Act 3, create a path for us!”

”Okay, masta,” the sound stand said. With a reverberating cry, it too performed its own attack barrage. Any person standing in its way would get knocked down so Koichi could make his way forward to the next cabin where Jason was hiding. All he had to do… was force his way… there…

Act 3 was struggling. There were just too many people. Even if it knocked someone down, they wouldn’t stay down for long. Driven by some adrenaline high induced by the mist stand To Heaven, they ignored any pain and broken body parts, and kept throwing themselves at Koichi. And Echoes couldn’t be everywhere at once. Here and there, someone would manage to slip past it, clawing or kicking at him, or trying to grab his leg.

But Koichi pushed forward! Like a bullet, Echoes may be small, but it would still pierce through this shield of human flesh that the coward Jason had put up!

With a strength of will Koichi hadn’t known he had just a year prior, he made it to the curtain separating business class and economy class. His target was soon within his reach. Soon, he would end this.

That’s when the even larger mass of people in economy class attacked.

If the relatively small crowd in business class had been a challenge, imagine the overwhelming pressure of that, times three! A mass of bodies, fueled by norepinephrine and stand mist, flung themselves at the teen. 

If you’ve never seen one, you will not know the terror of an angry mob. A single angry human may be dangerous. But a mob of people are a hundred times worse. Humans are group animals, and when strong emotions are involved, there is nothing to stop them. They would not stop until their target was rendered a bloody mess.

Koichi was drowning. Drowning in the unrelenting bodies of dozens of people, all after his head. Act 3 was doing its best to keep them at bay, but it just couldn’t. Its power and speed were useless against the hoard of people. Sweat and blood streamed across his face. He wasn’t sure how much of it was his own.

He would fail. He would die here, killed by innocent people, forced by a hand of evil. And then, Josuke, Okuyasu, and Jotaro would be next… and then what would happen to the passengers? What would Jason do to them once they served their purpose? Would he kill them too? Force them to fight, mano a mano, until there was only one left?

The thought of such an evil being allowed to exist… it reignited the fire within Koichi. He wouldn’t have it!

He willed Echoes to make one last attack rush against the mob, pushing them back just a bit. Only for a second or two, but that was all he needed. Koichi anchored his arms around one of the seats, and held onto it with all the might his little body could muster.

”Act 3! Freeze the plane!”

xxXXxx

It happened in less than one second. One second, the midget was being crushed by the anger of humanity. The next, the plane careened through the air. It was as if a god, in anger over humanity’s arrogance, had slapped the metal machine, to give the people inside a reminder of their place.

Jason could actually feel his head hitting the roof as the floor was jerked away from under him. For only a second… no even less, the plane plummeted from the sky. It was like gravity had increased tenfold for half a second. And for a universal force, half a second was all it needed.

Everyone inside the plane was hoisted into the air (though in reality, it was inertia acting up as the plane fell downwards). Everyone… except one, who had held onto a seat, which was screwed to the floor.

Men and women rained down on the floor as soon as the plane stabilized. A disgusting pile of flesh, bones, blood, hair, and clothes. Jason found himself pinned under an overweight tourist in one of those stupid-ass Hawaiian shirts. He hated those fucking things! Why was she even wearing it on a trip to Japan?

”Get off of me, you piece of…”

”S-H-I-T,” said a certain white and green stand suddenly hovering in front of Jason. Its master stood just behind it, on one of the piles of humans. From his position down on the floor, Koichi didn’t even need to stand on the pile to tower over Jason. Had… had he… was this midget the one who had thrown the plane of course? With just one punch from his stand? Was this the kind of power his stand possessed?

”Hey, masta,” the stand said. ”Give me orders.”

”Oh, right,” the tiny teen said. He scratched the back of his head. He cringed and brought his hand back almost immediately. His fingers were covered in blood. ”Uhm, if you could beat this guy up, that’d be great.”

The stand smiled, somewhere between mischievous and sadistic.

”Okay, masta. Sonuvabeetch!”

The first punch wasn’t that bad. Neither was the second, or third one. But after the fourth and fifth, Jason could feel something in his face break. Six, seven, eight… there goes the nose. Nine, ten, elven, and there goes a tooth. And that was just the beginning. Small fists, fast as lightning, pummeled Jason Timbuktu, master of To Heaven with a thousand punches, all the way into unconsciousness.

xxXXxx

[Jason Timbuktu]  
An assassin sent after the Duwang Gang. Has a lot of pent-up anger.

Stand: To Heaven

Appearance: To Heaven takes the form of a black mist of smoke. It can mimic the shape of other stands, but not their abilities.

Notable Powers and Abilities:  
•The Consequences Don’t Matter-To Heaven is nearly completely invulnerable to normal physical attacks.  
•Wilder Than Animals-To Heaven can enter another person when inhaled. From the inside, To Heaven can unlock the worst of a human being; pure, mindless anger and aggression. It can focus the anger towards one, or several targets, whether it be a living person or an object, or even an abstract concept. The victims will then mindlessly attack the target until it’s destroyed.  
•I See What I See-To Heaven also allows the user to see through the eyes of its victims, and judge the spiritual strength of that person.

Stats:  
Destructive Power: N/A  
Speed: C  
Range: B (ca. 30-36 meters)  
Durability: A  
Precision: B  
Development Potential: B

Status: Retired

[Koichi Hirose]  
A slightly below average height teenager from the peaceful town of Morioh. Is a lot braver and stronger than he gives himself credit for.

Stand: Echoes Act 3

Appearance: Short, semi-robotic, with green protrusions all over its body.

Notable Powers and Abilities:  
•Three Freeze-By punching a person or object, Echoes can dramatically increase the gravitational pull on the object. In practice, this makes the object a lot heavier. The exact limits of this power are unknown, but the effect decreases the further away from the object Koichi is. The closer, the stronger pull.

Stats:  
Destructive Power: B  
Speed: A  
Range: C (ca. 5 meters)  
Durability: B  
Precision: C  
Development Potential: B

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this took just a wee bit longer than I wanted to… but overall, I’m pretty happy with the chapter. It’s a lot more… dynamic, I think. Maybe I should start cutting between perspectives more? Do you guys think that’d work alright (especially in fight scenes like this)?
> 
> I am happy with this battle, let me know what you think!
> 
> As for the musical reference…
> 
> Jason Timbuktu and his stand To Heaven are references to Jason Diakité, a.k.a Timbuktu, and his song ”Alla Vill Till Himmelen Men Ingen Vill Dö.” Take a wild guess at what it might translate to in English.
> 
> If you want to listen to it, here's a link to the official music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDHlDb9AOsU
> 
> Anyway, next chapter will feature the return of Steven and Connie, as well as Lapis and Peridot. Also, another stand battle, cause why not? Expect it maybe… I really do hope I can have it ready next Tuesday or Wednesday, but I don’t dare promise anything. We’re in for the last stretch in school, you know how it can get. Even without having to worry about all those assignments that need to be written, there’s a lot going on before graduation.
> 
> But that’s my problem, not yours. Just try to be patient, and I’ll get something out sooner or later.
> 
> Until then, take care of the planet Earth, and remember that anything can happen in space!
> 
> EDIT: Thanks to SaturdayLemon for pointing out problems with the chapter and suggesting edits. Hopefully, this new and improved version is less confusing.


	15. Tigereye, Act 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! After chapter 7.3 was released, SaturdayLemon pointed out a few flaws in the chapter. Now, I make it a point to pander to my readers, because I wanna have a patreon one day. So, I made a few (well-needed) edits, which I think improved act 3 a lot. So I’d suggest you go check them out, either now, or after reading this act.

Chapter 8: Tigereye, Act 1

She had been walking for… how long? She looked up at the sun. It was getting low in the sky. She had been walking since it was low last time… the morning, She had been walking since the morning. She knew humans had some way of measuring time by dividing the day into smaller units of defined time. Though she still didn’t know what they were called, or how long they were. She would have to investigate it later. There was so much she wanted to investigate now that she could. Humans had so many… things. Amazing things. Things she couldn’t understand before, but could now.

It would be difficult. You couldn’t trust humans. They might have lots of incredible things, but they were also cruel and heartless. They pick you up for their own amusement and then they abandon you. Discarded, like all those piles of stuff they didn’t want and just threw away.

Not anymore. She was… strong now. Something had happened that had made her strong, stronger than any human, an apex predator. Her new master, the only one above her, had gifted her with this strength.

But it was not just strength, it was so much more! This intelligence… things that didn’t make any sense before, came naturally to her now. And the things she saw… it may have cost her an eye, but the one that was still left worked better than ever! There were a whole new host of colors in the world. Who knew grass and plants could look so pretty?

All of this and her master had only asked for her to do one thing. She would do one little thing for him, and not only would she have this strength, but her sisters would be safe too. All she needed to do was kill two humans.

She was getting close to the place where her master had told her to go. A human building, a house. It was an odd sight. It didn’t look like any houses she had seen before. It stood alone, far away from other houses. A large thing, round like a tree trunk, but taller and much, much wider was stuck to one of its sides. Above an opening in one side sat another human thing, one of those metal monsters humans tame and ride on black pathways. A body of water, too narrow to be a lake, but too deep to be a puddle also sat outside.

There were some other things that she couldn’t make out what they were from this distance. She did see something… something green moving inside the house. A small, green human, which was really strange. She didn’t think humans came in that color. Or blue for that matter. She thought only ones like herself came in nice colors. That humans only came in a few boring colors, without patterns. Maybe that’s why they had those fake-furs?

Well, the color of these two weird humans didn’t matter. They were prey.

xxXXxx

Peridot had been working a new morp for a couple of hours now. She had tried to use a handheld, gas-powered heat emitter (or a ’blowtorch’ as Pearl had called it) to weld together metal scraps she had found. It was supposed to represent how two bad components can make an even worse product when combined. Two problems had become obvious to her after only twenty minutes.

The first one was that while the blowtorch just wasn’t made for welding, and even if it was, Peridot had no other tools suited for this delicate creative work. While pouting over this, she had realized the second problem, and it was a much worse one. While it wasn’t her intention, this piece (Scrap, as she had been calling it in her head) had obvious parallels to fusion and bad fusions. And for obvious reasons, she did not want to bring that up while Lapis was around.

She had decided to change approach. Instead of a bunch of metal scraps welded together, she would use tape and strings instead. Instead of the scraps representing bad component forming something badder, it would represent the struggles of imperfect individuals trying to connect with others. Probably something about cooperation too? Though not too much, to avoid the undertones of fusion.

On the bright side: she had made tons of progress. The piece was about halfway done. On the bad side: it looked like trash. Like literal trash, someone had bundled up and tied together. Awful.

Peridot decided to take a break from working. Whenever she got stuck on a new morp, taking some time away usually helped. The golden sky outside told her that the sun was about to set. Those were pretty inspiring. Maybe she could take Pumpkin for a walk. Or if Lapis was up for it, they could fly down to Beach City, and watch the sunset from there.

She was about to go ask Lapis, but something outside caught her attention. A beam of blue light. Someone had warped to the warp pad just a few hundred meters away from the barn. And since there were only six people on Earth that could use the pads, and two of them were in the barn already… she immediately knew who it was.

”Hey Lapis!” she yelled to her barn mate, who was sitting in her armchair, reading. ”Steven’s here!” She didn’t wait for a response before running out to greet her great friend… only to trip over her own feet after gaining too much momentum. You’d think that after a year without them, she’d be used to running without her limb enhancers. Nope, still tripping over nothing. The fall itself didn’t bother her too much, peridots were a lot tougher than they looked. But she did hope Lapis hadn’t seen her fall over again, or else she’d tease her about it again…

Two arms grabbing ahold of her and lifting her into the air crushed this hope. A small snicker also let her know that Lapis had not only seen her fall, decided to pick her up mid-flight (like some precious pebble that couldn’t walk by herself), but that she would most definitely be teasing her about it later.

Oh well, her hopes were quickly replenished by the sight of Steven approaching. And he had brought his third-best friend with him!

”Steven!” Lapis said once they got close enough to not have to yell. ”And, um…”

”Connie!” Peridot quickly reminded her.

”Yeah, Connie! It’s so nice to see you,” Lapis said. She put Peridot down, before landing herself. She retracted her water wings into her gemstone.”I didn’t expect to see you again so soon, what brings… you here?” Her question died down, leaving another there instead.

Peridot had started making an enthusiastic greeting as well but stopped when she saw the looks on Steven’s and Connie’s faces. It was not the joy you’d expect from them coming to see their favorite two gems. No, it was something else.

”Hey… is something wrong?” she asked. ”Has… has something happened?”

”Is it… is it the Diamonds?” Lapis asked.

Peridot didn’t need to sweat nervously, but she did anyway. She shot Steven a look, which he met. They both knew what the other was thinking. It hadn’t been very long since that day… with the incident.

”No, no, it’s not the Diamonds,” Steven assured her. Peridot felt a wave of relief washing over her, and then a wave of shame. Lapis had told them she would stay. She should trust her friend.

Lapis frowned. Had she noticed?

”Well then, what is it? I can see something’s wrong,” she said. She glanced at Peridot and then back to Steven. ”And no sugar-coating it either,” she said. She had noticed.

”Okay… ” Steven said. He hesitated for a moment. ”But it’s really not the Diamonds,” he assured them again. ”The whole thing is just really… bizarre.”

xxXXxx

Steven and Connie spent the following forty minutes or so retelling and explaining the event earlier that day to the two barn mates. There was some difficulty explaining the severity of the revelation that there were humans with these supernatural powers. Peridot and Lapis didn’t know too many humans… only Steven, Connie, and Greg, as a matter of fact. And even then, they didn’t know Connie and Greg very well. To them, the fact that humans shouldn’t possess the power to create illusions with their mind or remove someone’s independence didn’t seem as outlandish.

It was not helped by all the superhero movies and comics Peridot had consumed. When Connie had told them about the two teens’ powers, Peridot had piped up.

”Oh, so they’re like Doctor D from Delta-humans, but lamer? Because Doctor D has a much wider range of abilities than that.” And then she had rambled on for almost three minutes about how broken Doctor D was, he had to be written out of half the series because he was so powerful.

”I mean, if he had been present during The Division arc, whatever side he would have been on (which would be Thomas Strong, because Tomas was right) he would have defeated everyone else with just a snap of his fingers.”

It had fallen on Connie to interrupt her, which she had tried to do as tactfully as she could… but then the discussion turned into a twelve-minute discussion over who had been right in The Division. Peridot maintained that Thomas was the right one, Lapis that Stephen was right, Connie that, while Thomas had several good points, he had gone way too far, and Steven tried to keep somewhere in the middle in order not to upset anyone.

By the end of it, they hadn’t really gotten anywhere, but Steven and Connie both felt a lot less grim about the previous situation.

Fun as it had been, forty minutes sitting on a barn floor did wear on a person’s bum. Peridot and Lapis didn’t have any chairs or tables. Connie decided to take a quick leg stretcher. She grabbed her backpack and sword, mostly on reflex. She was glad that she did, however.

While she was outside, looking at the sunset behind the cornfield, she realized just how thirsty she was. She hadn’t had anything to drink for a couple of hours. She was glad her mom wasn’t there, or else she’d get yet another lecture on how important it is to stay hydrated during the summer and yadda yadda yadda. Though she was right. It was important to stay hydrated at all times. After all, water is pretty important to humans… which was why Connie always kept a bottle of water with her, which she grabbed from her backpack.

She strolled closer to the cornfield to have a closer look. She didn’t know too much about corn, but wasn’t it just in the beginning of the season? These looked like they were ready to be harvested. Connie knew Peridot had a green thumb (heh, stealth pun) but wasn’t this taking it a bit too far? She took a sip of water while pondering whether she should ask Peridot about it. Whatever she and Lapis were doing to make the crops grow so fast, maybe it could be used to improve food production?

The sudden pain hit her like a truck. Her throat and mouth hurt like she had tried swallow a bunch of needles. Bile rose from her stomach, and she vomited out the contents of her stomach. Most of it fell on the ground, but some of it got on her clothes. The stomach acid and pieces of half-digested food were colored red with blood.

She dropped the bottle, and the water poured out of it. Small white crystals, no bigger than tacks floated in the clear liquid. A bunch of them were in the puke on the ground as well.

Connie must have swallowed a bunch of them. That explained the pain and bleeding. But how had they gotten inside the bottle without her noticing?

She took a step backward. She tried to shout for help. A meekly ”herlp" and at least half a deciliter blood left her mouth.

”Did you say something, Connie?” she heard Steven’s voice from the barn.

”Yechs!” Connie did her best to shout, to raise her voice, to let him know there was something wrong. She knew Steven could heal her easily… he resurrected Lars, after all, a few cuts was no biggie. Probably. Hopefully.

She didn’t dare run into the barn herself, even though that would be much faster. Because something was happening to the water that had leaked from the bottle. It was… moving. Whatever had happened to make the crystals appear in her bottle was happening to the rest of it now. She was under attack again.

Connie knew she was in danger. She was already hurt, it would be safer to run for now. For the moment, she would be safer. But… if she ran now, they might be in even greater danger, all of them, if they couldn’t figure this power out in time.

The water in the small puddle was forming something… a cylindrical thing, that narrowed in one end. Suddenly, the thing froze to ice, and Connie saw what it was. An icicle. A clear, white spike of frozen water. Connie reached for the large sword on her back.

Like a predator who saw its prey trying to run away, the spike launched itself, as if shot from a canon. A year of training, pure reflexes and a large slab of pink metal stopped Connie from getting impaled right through the heart, like a vampire from some old movie. The young sword fighter had caught the icicle mid-air and shattered it to pieces.

Okay, so this new power could turn water into spikes. Dangerous, but Connie figured that between herself, Steven, Lapis and Peridot, they should be able to handle it. The access to free water was limited here, so predicting the enemy’s moves would be easy…

This time she screamed for real. A real, visceral scream, a scream only true pain could bring out from a person. A tearing pain, like a thousand fishhooks ripping her hand to pieces. She dropped the sword. There was no way she could hold on to it anymore. Her hands had been penetrated by surely a hundred needles. Needles red like blood.

Oh. So it didn’t need free water.

”Connie!” Steven yelled behind her. Connie heard his running feet against the grass, and a wave of relief washed over her. Even though he was in a state of panic and fear right now, her magical friend always managed to calm her down. After all, that’s what jam buds are fo…

Half a second’s worth of distraction was all the enemy needed.

A new spike of ice shot out from the shadows of the cornfield and buried itself in Connie’s stomach.

Connie said a very bad word. Her legs gave up, and she crashed to the ground. A large flower of blood grew on her shirt. The new shirt she had just gotten this week. Her mother was going to kill her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, that turned violent real fast.
> 
> Anyone care to wager on which scene from JoJo I was referencing when Connie was being attacked? A little hint: It’s from one of the parts that have yet to be animated. While you’re on it, try guessing the new enemy stand! You might be able to figure out who… or rather WHAT the new stand user is as well if I left enough clues for it. Which I hope I did, otherwise it would be pretty worthless doing it.
> 
> Know what, one hint: the new stand is NOT named after Revolution 9 (The Beatles, The Beatles/”The White Album”), which was the plan until I found a song that fit much better.
> 
> I hope to be able to update next Tuesday or Wednesday, but we’ll see how that goes.
> 
> Until then, take care of the planet Earth, and remember that anything can happen in space!


	16. Tigereye, Act 2

Chapter 8: Tigereye, Act 2

The small human female fell to the ground. She was not dead yet, but she didn’t need to be. Those damages would probably kill her, but no need to make sure. She wasn’t one of her preys. Just the green and the blue ones. But there had been something with those small humans… they unsettled her.

They had appeared from thin air in a blue pillar of light. Just that was alarming. She had never seen any humans or anything else for that matter do something like that. Then there was something off about the two of them. The way the female walked, her stance, the sharp metal thing on her back… she was a fighter. A human that could fight? She may have this new strength, but even she realized a human like that would be dangerous.

Then there was the round male. He didn’t look or sound dangerous. But the light breeze had carried his scent to her. And he didn’t smell like any human she had met before. There was still the sweet and bitter smell of the poisons humans like to bathe in, some sour stench of sweat, expected on a warm day. But beneath the surface, another scent lied. The natural’ human smell was a pretty boring one. It was… dry, not very exciting. Not this one. His scent was not dry, it was alive. 

She didn’t understand why, but the scent made her afraid. It shouldn’t, it was actually a quite nice smell. So why was it also telling her to flee? 

The feeling had only gotten worse when the male came running to the female when the smell got closer and stronger. There was a stab of pain in her head.

He must die too.

He stopped at the female’s side. Just outside range. The female had kept right on the edge of how far her ability could reach. Which was why she had to throw the last thorn at her, rather than form it from the water in her body. Now, she was completely outside reach, and so was the male. If she wanted to kill him, she needed to get closer.

She told her body to move, to creep closer so she could get rid of the danger. But her body refused to follow her commands. Something was blocking her.

She didn’t have time for this! The female was still conscious. Any time, she would tell the male where the attack had come from. The female had stopped a thorn with the sharp metal thing with little problem. If the male was even half as dangerous as her senses were telling her, then…

She focused her new strength on the plants around her. She pulled on the small drops of water inside them, forcing them outside. The plants died quickly, becoming only dry husks. The water flowed through the air and formed three thorns, becoming hard water. The male still hadn’t looked towards the field of tall plants. He was still occupied with the female.

She narrowed her eye and focused on the male. Her aim had been off last time. She had wanted to hit the female’s leg, but the thorn had hit higher. Now that the male was kneeling down, she had to make sure the shot wasn’t too high this time, lest they fly over his head…

There! He turned around, looking right at the field she was hiding in. Right then, as he turned, she threw the spikes with all her new strength. Even if he had time to see them coming, it was too late to escape.

She wasn’t sure what happened next. Only that there was a light, and that her thorns shattered against a pink round thing the male held on his arm. What had happened? He hadn’t been holding it before she threw the thorns, but now it was there. Where did it come from? The female had been carrying her sharp pink metal thing on her back, but the male hadn’t been carrying anything.

Was he… was he like her? Did he also have the same strength as she and her master?

The place where her eye used to be stung like a bee. The pain brought her back to the moment. It didn’t matter where he had gotten the shield from. All that mattered was that he died.

She considered all of her options. She pushed her new intelligence to the limits of what she had thought possible. She had only moments of time. Who knew what else the young male might do? She had to come up with something, and fast.

Whatever his pink round thing was, it had stopped her thorns. As far as she could see, there were no scratches on the thing. Nor had the male budged when they hit. It was like the thorns had just been small insects trying to break a metal monster by flying into it. And the way he was looking into the field where she was hiding, it was obvious trying to throw more thorns at him from here wouldn’t work. She could try to form thorns from the grass around him… no, pulling the water and gathering it into a thorn would take too long. He would notice. And her body still refused to move closer.

Then she remembered something. The stomach stuff the female had vomited up was full of water, and it was still within range. And the way the male held the pink round thing… If she timed it right and put enough power and speed behind it…

She poured her new strength into the puddle. She had to form, harden and throw the thorn, all at the same time. Or else it wouldn’t work. One blink… no, half a blink of the eye. That was all the time she had.

There! The male looked back down at the female. He was… licking his hand? Why was he grooming himself now?

It didn’t matter why. Because the moment he lowered his guard, he was a dead human. A sharp thorn of hard water exploded from the human vomit, aimed straight at the human’s head. His death would be instant. There was no way he could survive. This was her victory!

xxXXxx

Lapis stopped the spike just before it reached Steven’s head. She hadn’t been sure what it was that had bugged her at first. Obviously, the human Connie being hurt was one of them. But something else had tickled the back of her mind. A feeling that something was wrong. Now she knew what it was. Someone was manipulating water in her presence.

She had felt it when the icicles came flying out of the cornfield, and then when the water in… whatever the disgusting stuff on the ground was had done the same thing. A power like hers, but different. For one thing, it was weaker. Much, much weaker. Which whoever was attacking her home and friends was soon going to find out.

A new set of icicles formed inside the field… her field. Her and Peridot’s crops were destroyed as the attacker formed a few more puny ice crystals to hurl at them. Lapis stopped them too just before they could reach Steven and Connie. With a thought and a flick of the hand, the melted and evaporated into the atmosphere, beyond the enemy’s reach.

”Hey Connie, are you okay?” Lapis turned to her one-and-a-half human friends. She didn’t really know anything about the human body, other than it was fragile, needy and broke easily. And that if it was too damaged, the human would die and never come back.

”S-soon,” Connie grunted. ”I just… ow!… I just gotta wait for the… ouch…. for healing to finish.”

A new array of spike emerged from the field. Trying to take advantage of her being distracted? That tactic would be useless now that Lapis knew how and from where they were coming. The only reason she hadn’t finished this already was that she wanted to make sure Connie was okay. Speaking of whom, something strange was happening to the little human.

Her body was surrounded by a soft pink aura. Small sparks of yellow electricity crackled around her hands and stomach, where pieces of hardened water had stabbed her. The ice melted into back into water, and the holes closed back up. Huh. So Steven could heal humans too, and not just gems? That probably came in handy considering how easily injured humans were.

Connie wheezed and sat back up, rubbing her hands. She looked like a mess, red human-water all over her and a huge tear in her shirt. Her voice was still shaking, but she was smiling.

”S-see? I’m all b-better now!” She made one of those ’thumbs-up’ signs Garnet liked to do. Then her eyes widened again, and she grabbed Steven’s hand. ”But we need to get out of here! This thing… it can turn the water inside our bodies into spikes! Steven, we can’t get any closer!”

”Yeah, you should probably back off,” Lapis butted in. ”These icicles are no problem, but I don’t know if I can stop them from forming inside your bodies… at least not without damaging something myself. Don’t worry, I can take care of this myself.”

”Excuse me…” Peridot piped up ”…but could someone explain to me what in the stars is going on!?” She was by Connie’s and Steven’s side too. A collection of metal objects had been dragged behind her out of the barn. That sometimes happened when she got upset. After a particularly emotional episode of Camp Pining Heart (season 5, episode 18, ”A Simple Yellow Dandelion”) she had had a mass of iron dust stuck to her back for almost an entire day. She had gotten better at controlling it, but accidents still happened.

”Oh, it’s nothing really,” Lapis said as coolly as she could. If Peridot was so impressed was so impressed by everything the Crystal Gems did… ”Just some poor fool who thought they could just come here and hurt our friends. Just you get Steven and Connie back into the barn, and I’ll teach them a lesson.”

…then let’s see how impressed she would be Lapis took down this threat all by herself, without the Crystal Gems’ help.

The three of them withdrew. Steven shielded the other two with his… uh, shield. Good, then Lapis could relax her guard over them. Not all the way, just a bit. Just enough for her to concentrate on the dumb little piece of dirt who was hiding in the field. They had stopped throwing icicles for now… not the Lapis was fooled by the seeming surrender. No, many more of them had been made hidden inside the field. They were hovering close to the middle, so Lapis figured that’s where the attacker was hiding.

Lapis tugged at the icicles with maybe one-thousandth of her full power. It was still about three hundred times stronger than what the attacker could muster. The sharp ice was sent flying into the air at about two-hundred meters per second. If Lapis calculations were correct, they would land somewhere in the forest close by. Eventually.

Practically the entire field seemed to shiver, as the water was pulled out of the plants. Aside from a couple of them at the back, every single one was ruined. Seeing her plants she and Peridot had put so much time into nurturing become nothing more than standing pillars of dust made Lapis a bit angrier than she already was.

”You’re not very smart, are you?” she said to the dark shadows inside the field. About one-hundred and fifty spikes of hardened water were turned into steam and blown away. ”That kind of attack is useless against me. I get that you’re a human, so you wouldn’t know this, but I am a Lapis Lazuli. I was made to remodel the face of planets. But for now… I think I’ll stick to remodeling the face of you.”

Ouch. That was bad. It had sounded a lot cooler in Lapis’ head.

She had kept some of the water around from the last attack. She shaped it into a ball just above her hand. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do with it yet… but she’d figure something out.

In one last act of desperation, she could feel the enemy pouring all of their measly little strength into the ball, trying to turn it into an icicle. Lapis didn’t laugh; she didn’t feel the situation was right for that. Connie had gotten hurt… pretty bad too, it had looked like. So instead, Lapis went for a ’cold fury’ approach.

”Didn’t you hear me? Trying to use your power against me is useless. Useless, useless, useless!"

Lapis felt something tug at her very core, her gemstone. It was like… someone was… ripping out a piece… of her body…

A massive spike of ice burst out from her chest.

”F-frack,” she muttered before her form poofed and there only was darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There come points in a writers career in which he or she will just back, with their eyes unfocused, and just ask themselves:
> 
> ”WTF did I just write?”
> 
> That moment occurred to me when I realized I was writing about a small animal trying to kill a child by turning a puddle of vomit into an icicle.
> 
> And is it just me, or is that one of the most JoJo things ever? You tell me.
> 
> ————-
> 
> Wow, I finished this act super fast. I guess it’s because of all the awesome response I’ve been getting! And quick was it too! Things like that get me really excited to keep writing and make the best story I can.
> 
> So far, I’m having a blast with this arc/fight. I think it’s turning out to be pretty exciting… how will our heroes get out of this one? With Lapis out of the fight, they’ve lost their elemental powerhouse and biggest advantage. Neither Steven, nor Connie can get close without suffering the same fate (but much gorier), and Peridot… will literally trip over her own feet.
> 
> I’I think I might have written myself into a corner with this one…
> 
> —————
> 
> Well, we’ll have to see how they manage in the next act. When will it be out? I dunno. Maybe next Sunday. Though considering graduation is coming up by the end of this week, and all the stuff it brings with it… we’ll see how it goes. Maybe Sunday, maybe later. If I don’t have finished the chapter by then, I’ll let you know. But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
> 
> But until next time, take care of the planet Earth and remember that anything can happen in space!


	17. Tigereye, Act 3

”Lapis…”

”Her wings… the water inside her gem…”

”But how… is that even possible?”

”I-I don’t know… I can’t even store things in my gem, I didn’t know they could be forcibly extracted…”

…

”What do we do now?”

Chapter 8: Tigereye, Act 3

”And the last known survivor stalks her prey in the night  
And she is watching us all, with the eye of the tiger”

Peridot was scared for real now. The severity of the situation had finally begun to sink in. Sure, seeing Connie hurt was scary, but Steven had healed her pretty fast, so it hadn’t quite hit her the same way. When Lapis had told them to stay back, Peridot had done so. After all, Lapis was in full control, right? There was no way she could lose, she was a lapis lazuli for crying out loud! A terraformer, no way in a million years some human could overpower her. And surely, using the water inside her gemstone was impossible, right?

Then again… a lot of impossible things had happened on Earth. And maybe the water in Lapis’ gem wasn’t stored in a pocket space, but was actually kept inside small cavities on the gem’s ’inside’, and the water kept shrunk using hydrokinesis (similar to the PYM-space storing technique). If that was the case, then the enemy being able to use their power on the water made sense, because it was not kept in a separate dimension… unless the pocket space wasn’t actually a real pocket space, but rather an IG bend, or curved space. With a lapis lazuli, generating the power necessary was easy enough, though Peridot wasn’t sure about other gem types… she had seen Pearl store things in her gem, and it did seem like a real pocket dimension… maybe the lazuli was a special case? To make the process of summoning the wings quicker? But then, how come the rest of the water stored didn’t discharge violently once Lazuli was poofed? If the storing of the water was done externally, then with the body poofed, then whatever force maintained the storage would have released its grip and…

Peridot tripped and fell over again. This time, it wasn’t just over her own feet though. Steven had been tugging at her arm while she was distracted, and her foot had gotten caught on some metal scrap on the ground. Actually, it was the morp she had been working on an hour or so ago. Her ferrokinesis must have gone out of control for a moment, dragging her morp, tools and assorted scraps with her. The installation was a sad-looking thing. She hadn’t even bothered to tie up all loose ends, or cut off the tape, so the roll of duct tape was still with it. 

The fall did bring one positive effect with it, however; Peridot snapped back to reality. The specifics of how Lapis’ gem worked may be fascinating, but hardly a fitting topic to ponder upon in the current situation.

”What do we do now?” That was the important question. This human enemy had proven themselves to be dangerous. They needed to deal with it, right now.

”I have to do something,” Steven said. ”Maybe if I…”

”No!” Connie interrupted him. She grabbed his shoulders as if to stop him from going even before he started to move. ”You can’t get close, it will kill you!”

”Connie is right,” Peridot said. ”Neither of you can get any closer to the field, or you risk getting killed. No, if anyone has to get close, it should be me.” She made a pause. Yes… she was the only one that could get close to the enemy without being killed from the inside. She didn’t have a drop of water in her body for the enemy to use. She was their only hope now…

Peridot’s knees became weak as the realization settled with her. She was their only hope to beat this enemy. And she couldn’t fail, or her friends would be… killed. Could she… could she do it? She wasn’t like the other Crystal Gems… she had no weapon, no experience, and she could barely use her power right twenty percent of the time! There was no way she could do this by herself… she was not strong enough.

She looked at Lapis gem again. It was stuck to the end of the icicle that had burst through her chest. It was undamaged… some hope in the dark. Lapis was going to be okay… unless the enemy realized they hadn’t finished the job, and decided to shatter it. After it was finished with them.

Gah! If only Peridot could see where the coward was hiding! Maybe she could have flung some metal at them, give them a taste of their own medicine. Peridot starred out in the fields, trying to make something out. A movement, a shadow, anything… Nothing. There was nothing. The sun had almost entirely set now, and it was getting darker by the minute. Soon, finding anything in the dried up rests of the corn would be impossible.

Stupid human. Destroying perfectly good crops like that. What now were they supposed to do, huh? Plowing the land, building the watering system, reassembling the tractor… so much work for nothing. Useless!

Wait a minute. Peridot’s gaze darted back to the place where Lapis’ gem was. There! At the edge of the field, the tractor stod. And next to it, another item…

”Steven…” Peridot said. ”I need a shield.”

”What?” he said. ”I’m already holding one…” he said, and indeed he was. It was a good shield, big enough to protect all three of them at the same time. ”What do you mean, you need an extra?”

”Yes, ”Peridot said. She picked up the half-finished morp from the ground. She used a trick she had learned from the human Greg; cutting tape using your teeth and a careful sideways movement. ”I have a plan. But I need a shield.”

”A plan?” Connie said. ”What plan, what are you going to do?”

”I don’t have time to explain… just trust me,” Peridot said. She put the roll of tape around her arm, like a bulky friendship bracelet. She scanned the ground for the tool she needed. It was about halfway between the field and the barn, but slightly off course. She made a few quick calculations to optimize her movement.

”Just trust me,” she said again, perhaps more to herself than her friends. 

Connie and Steven glanced at each other before Steven summoned another shield for Peridot.

”Just please… be careful,” Steven told her.

”I will,” she said and took it from him. It was surprisingly light. ”Now, you two get inside the barn and wait for my signal. It’s… you’ll know when you see.” She didn’t wait for their response. She just began moving towards the dead field of corn crops. She didn’t quite dare to run, she didn’t want to risk tripping again. Still, she needed to move fast.

Peridot had realized what had happened to Lapis now. The human’s ability seemed to have a range limit. When it attacked Connie, she had been just on the edge of that limit, which was why she was still alive. Now, based on the data she had, it was safe to assume that Lapis too had been just outside of range when she was poofed. Evidently, this was not the case. This could mean several things, but the most likely explanation was that human had repositioned themselves inside the field, to get closer to Lapis. The spikes they flung in the meantime was just a distraction.

Assuming this conclusion was correct (Peridot was about 43% sure it was), and adding in the fact that most of the crops, the enemy’s source of ammunition had been destroyed, then it meant the enemy would try to reposition themselves again to find a new source of water. Such as the smaller than average lake outside the barn entrance… or the silo filled with water. With those sheer amounts of available water alone, it was no telling what kind of damage the enemy could cause. That’s why she needed to move fast. She had to finish this before that happened. Before the enemy got another advantage over them.

She was halfway there when the first spike hit. It came flying out of the field without warning and slammed into the shield. It shattered against it without leaving a scratch. Peridot didn’t even feel any pushback. What a marvelous weapon, capable of completely nullifying kinetic energy to such a capacity.

This behavior was exactly as predicted. The enemy would try with a direct attack to test her, before going for the killing blow. A killing blow Peridot would not let come.

Before the enemy could react again, she used her metal powers to lift all the metal scraps she had dragged out of the barn into the air. With a grunt, she flung them all into the field. All except one. A special tool she needed to complete her plan, which she grabbed from the ground.

With the metal pieces acting as a distraction, she continued to move quickly towards the tractor where the last component stood. She didn’t expect her diversion to work for too long unless she actually had managed to hit the enemy…

The grass crunched under her feet. She looked down and saw that it had been dried up. A small spike, about the size of a pen, was launched directly at her chest. The force very nearly pushed her off her feet, but she managed to stay standing. The spike broke against her skin… though it did sting quite a bit.

There were only five meters left to the tractor.

More spots dried up around her, pen-spikes ready to launch at her from all directions. Peridot bit her lower lip. This was going to sting a lot.

Peridot hadn't been around for long enough to experience hail but imagine that. Except the hail is sharp spikes and falls from every direction directly at you. You’d die. But peridots are nothing if not tough little clods. She kept on pushing forwards. 

Three meters… two meters… one meter… there!

She arrived at her destination, just as the hail stopped. How long until the enemy began a new attack? Not long enough for her to stand around and ponder on that! She took cover behind the tractor, which provided protection from attacks from the field. She put the shield on the ground, facing the direction she came from. She got to work, attaching the tool to the object with the tape. No need for it to look good… it just needed to keep together… less than a minute. Come on, just stick…

…

Why wasn’t there a new attack? Peridot dared to take a peek into the field. No movements, no new spikes… had the enemy given up? No, that couldn’t be it. It was probably just biding its time. Well, that time was now! Peridot had just finished her weapon. She turned on the tool and grabbed the object using her ferrokinesis. In one (not quite as swift as she had wished) motion, she stood up again, bringing the object with her. She lifted it above her head, above the field. One push, and…

The spike hit her with the force of a small car. Right in her upper back. Where Lapis had ger gem. The impact actually sent her flying, flipping Peridot over the tractor, where she landed on her butt. 

Lapis’ gem must ’ve still had some water left in it.

Several more spikes, seven maybe, came flying out of the field, all aimed for Peridot’s chest and head. And they did a little more than sting. It wasn’t enough to poof her, but the pain made her wish it did. It was worse than getting crushed under a boulder because then it’s just blunt force. Now, pointed icicles bombarded her, piercing her skin if just so slightly. One of them hit her in the eye, destroying the delicate vision sphere, and making her other eye blurry with tears of pain.

She couldn’t focus her ferrokinesis anymore, and the object she had held suspended in the air fell to the ground.

This was not a problem.

Just as the spike from behind hit her, she had pushed to object to where it needed to be. Above the cornfield.

She saw something white hit the red canister as it fell, clear liquid leaking from it.

Exactly as planned.

Whoosh!

The blowtorch did its job and ignited the fuel inside the gasoline canister. The fire caught on easily and began devouring the dried-up plants. In less than thirty seconds, half the field was burning, and the rest followed it soon after.

Plants are pretty fascinating. They live of off the immense power radiated by the sun and bound it as potential energy inside carbohydrate molecules. Now, all that stored power was released, all at once. For a little while, the sun’s power would dance upon the Earth’s surface. 

”That’s what you get…” Peridot wheezed. One of the spikes had hit her in the throat, making it hard for her to speak. ”That’s what you get for hurting my friends.” She took a deep breath, gathering all her strength. ”You clod!”

She heard Steven and Connie come running, shouting her name and stuff. So they understood the signal? Good…

Peridot felt tired… maybe she would just… take a minute to rest…

xxXXxx

Somewhere in the field, a small cat ran for her life, chased by an unstopping force of nature, the predator of the elements. The hunter was now the hunted.

xxXXxx

[One-eyed Cat]  
A stray cat given strength, intelligence, and safety for her sisters, at the cost of her eye.

Stand: Tigereye

Appearance: N/A

Notable Powers and Abilities  
•Hard Water Thorns-Tigereye can create sharp spikes (or thorns) from water, whether it be free water, or inside a living organism. Tigereye can also pull the water out of living organisms, and create spikes that can be ’thrown’ at a target.

Stats  
Destructive Power: B  
Speed: N/A (bound type stand)  
Range: B (ca. 15-20 meters)  
Durability: N/A (bound type stand)  
Precision: C  
Development Potential: D

Status: Defeated

[Peridot]  
A former Homeworld technician turned traitor. She now leads the Crystal Gems. Certified kindergartner. No, she is not from Mars.

Gem placement: Forehead

Weapon(s): None

Notable Powers and Abilities  
•Intelligence-Smarter than the average peridot. Has shown great proficiency with all kinds of machines, and capable of constructing complex machines from inferior materials found on Earth. Observant and a quick learner.  
•Durability-Peridots have above average durability, matching and even surpassing some quartz soldiers.  
•Ferrokinesis-Despite being an Era 2 peridot, who shouldn’t possess this power, Peridot posses ferrokinesis. She is able to move and control ferromagnetic metals.

Stats  
Destructive Power: D (B with ferrokinesis)  
Speed: D  
Range: B  
Durability: A  
Skill: C  
Rarity: E

Status: Retired

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy moly! I'm on a roll with this chapter! This act took me only like two days to finish!
> 
> Okay, so I was lying when I said I had written myself into a corner... I obviously knew full well how this fight would end from the start. I was just trying to hype Peridot's big moment. Finally, one of her Peri-plans worked!
> 
> \------
> 
> Kudos to SaturdayLemon. Your first guess was correct! The stand user was a cat! Specifically, it's Cat!Steven from Pool Hopping.
> 
> Kudos also to DiRunner over on FF.net for deducing that Tigereye was a reference to Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, which, of course, is the namesake of the stand in question. Tigereye also happens to be a type of gemstone and works as a pun on the cat only having one eye, so I thought I was real clever with this one.
> 
> \------
> 
> Next update is going to be a sort of cooldown chapter, just to wrap up the aftermaths of the last couple of fights (Hot n' Cold, To Heaven, Tigereye) and maybe some set-up for the future. Basically, just a chance for both you and me to stop and breathe. A calm before the next storm.
> 
> I don't know yet if I'll manage the wrap up in just one act, or if it's going to be a multi-parter. Don't know when it'll be out either. But if I'm not finished in one week, I'll let you guys know.
> 
> So until then, take care of the planet Earth, and remember that anything can happen in space!


	18. Wake Me Up, Act 1

Chapter 9: Wake Me Up, Act 1

”So wake me up when it’s all over  
When I’m wiser and I’m older”

Peridot had never slept before. It didn’t seem very productive in her eyes. You just lay there and do nothing for crying out loud! Though she would have to admit, after trying it… nah, it really wasn’t all it was hyped up to be. Waking up again was especially painful. Her entire body felt sore. 

She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She suddenly remembered what had just happened. She had been… knocked out? Yes, that was what had happened. That stupid human had knocked her out for a moment. Oh well, jokes on them!

”Yeah, take that you clod,” she muttered. She yawned and stretched her arms like she had seen Lapis do sometimes after waking up. Her plan had worked out quite nicely. The entire field was ablaze. Orange and yellow flames roared and licked the dry plants into smoke and ashes. That human wouldn’t have anywhere to hide anymore. ”How do you like being on fire, huh?”

That’s when an unidentified mass of human flesh tackled her to the ground again.

”Uah!” she yelled. ”Let me go, you big dumb lump of…”

”Oh Peridot, I’m so glad you’re okay,” she heard the human sniffle. A pair of strong arms grabbed her and squeezed the air out of her system. ”I thought that you… that we had lost you,” a familiar voice said. Oh. So it was Steven and not the enemy. That was a relief.

”Obviously, you didn’t,” Peridot wheezed. ”Would you mind not hugging me so hard? If those spikes didn’t break anything, then you will.”

”Oh, sorry!” Steven lessened his grip, though he didn’t let go. ”It’s just that… you looked like you had really been hurt. And I thought I saw one of the spikes hit your gem, so I… I just got worried.” There were tears in his eyes.

”That’s understandable,” Peridot said. It was actually kinda comforting to see how much her friends cared for her. ”But I assure you, no lasting damage has been done.” She rubbed her right eye (the one that had gotten hurt) again. There were no injuries on the rest of her body either. ”I suppose you fixed my form while I was out?” she asked. Steven nodded. ”You know you didn’t have to, right?” she said. ”A gem’s body can repair damages like that, as long as it isn’t enough to poof them. A few days, and I would have been good as new.”

She paused for a moment as she realized she might have sounded ungrateful.

”But, em… wow, thanks anyway,” she said. She returned the hug to her friend. ”I suppose that's what friends are for.”

Steven chuckled.

”Yeah, I suppose.” He let go of the hug. For a second he looked peaceful. But then he frowned deeply, and his tone got serious. He grabbed her by the shoulders.”Peridot, don't you ever do anything like that again! What were you thinking? What if that icicle really had hit your gem? You could have gotten seriously hurt!” The sudden scolding caught Peridot off-guard.

”Wha-b-but I thought that… Hey, I saved your life! Connie’s too! Probably Lapis’ as well. Is this how you thank me?”

”What if you had died? This is not like you Peridot, you’re supposed to be the smart one!”

”You tell me what I should have done then! Wait for the enemy to get close, and then kill us all at that same time? I didn’t have time to be careful.” 

Of course, Peridot immediately conceived of at least three other plans that were much safer and that was only about twelve to twenty-seven percent less likely to succeed than the one she had chosen to enact. The burden of being a genius; not only was it enough to make a mistake, but your mind would tell you just how big that mistake was.

”And, uh… maybe I panicked a bit…” she muttered, just loud enough for Steven to hear it. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. He just hugged her again.

”It’s okay,” he whispered. Tears returned to his eyes again, but not because of sadness or fear. ”I was really scared too. Thanks for saving my life.”

xxXXxx

It wasn’t quite like waking up after from sleep. It was more like… like, at first it started with her hearing a voice. And then she sorta realized she heard the voice, and that’s when she realized she was… not awake. But if she knew she wasn’t awake, then she was awake to know it, so she was actually waking up. Then the voices became clearer, and she could almost make out what she heard…

”…she lost a lot of blood, but she’s in a stable state for now,” she heard an unfamiliar voice. A woman, somewhere between thirty and fifty maybe?

Katey forced her eyes open. It felt like the Sandman had strewn a handful of sand in her eyes, and then sewn them shut. She managed to pry them open a bit, and then regretted it almost instantly. It had hurt less to keep them close. She wanted to rub the sand and tears from them, but her arms refused to move. 

Come to think of it, she couldn’t even feel most of her body. It was numb. Only the pain in her eyes and a faint beating in her right hand. Her throat was pretty sore too like she hadn’t had anything to drink for several hours.

She tried to concentrate, but it was hard. Her entire head was stuffed with cotton and her eyes full of water. Her eyes were adjusting slowly, like old cameras or binoculars. It began with colors, mostly white… then fuzzy shapes and outlines.

”However, there is no chance of her hand recovering. We’re gonna have to amputate it.”

The world didn’t become all crystal clear like you might imagine, but it sure as hell got a lot more focused. Katey’s memory returned to her, and when I say returned, I mean it came crashing into her mind like a meteorite onto a prehistoric Earth. The cool boy, the scary man, the arrow… her new power, how she was forced to use it on the strangely colorful women… what had happened to her hand…

Katey was suddenly very glad she couldn’t turn her head to look at her right hand. She instead averted her attention to what she could see properly. She was in a hospital bed, so much she figured from the white bedsheets and other surroundings. Far more interesting however was the woman only a few meters away, right in front of Katey’s bed. It was the woman with the square… hair?

Okay seriously, what fashion disaster thought a square afro was a good idea? That was probably the worst idea since… since… since Katey’s own brain decided to lose focus over what’s important, that’s what. The maroon-skinned woman she had ’attacked’ was standing but a few meters away, her back turned against Katey. She was talking to someone, whom Katey assumed was a doctor. She couldn’t actually see the doctor-woman behind (or rather, in front) of the square-afro-haired maroon-skinned woman. But she could hear her clearly. And they were talking about… amputating her hand.

Katey very nearly winced at that thought. Thankfully, a combination of willpower, blood loss, and numbing medical drugs stopped the sound from escaping her throat. What had actually happened? Her memory was still a bit fuzzy, but it couldn’t be that bad… could it? The beating, pulsating feeling in her right hand got worse.

”No need,” the square-afro-haired maroon-skinned woman said. ”You just need to keep her alive for a while. Steven will fix her.”

”Hmph,” the woman said. She sounded skeptical. ”And if I may ask, how exactly would he do that? I don’t know about your… kind, but there is no way that hand could ever recover. The best surgeons in the world couldn’t put it back together. How would Steven be able to ’fix’ her hand?”

That was a good question, one Katey too was very interested in learning the answer to.

”Magic,” square-afro said.

Of course. Of course, the answer was magic. Katey felt kinda dumb now. She had a bunch of rags in strings come flying out of her hand, and attach themselves to people to draw out an evil twin. How had she ever not thought that was magic?

She didn’t quite catch what the doctor mumbled next.

”Fine,” she said after a short pause. ”I’ll tell doctor Who to wait a few hours…” Katey still couldn’t see her, but she could practically feel the narrowing eyes through square-afro. ”But I want to know why this poor girl is here in the first place. I demand an answer, and I demand it right now! What have you done to her?”

”Nothing she didn’t force us to,” square-afro said. Katey supposed she was right… she had kinda been the one to attack… Except she had been the one who had had her hand explode, so you tell her who really drew first blood.

”And what on Earth is that supposed to mean?” the doctor asked.

”It means she attacked us,” square-afro said. ”We, or rather I, simply defended ourselves.” She paused. Katey saw her move her hand to her face. Perhaps to take off her shades? ”I know what you’re going to say. The answer is that I don’t know either. But know this: I didn’t lay a finger on her. I didn’t know that this…” she half-turned to make a gesture to Katey’s hand. Katey quickly closed her eyes and pretended to still be knocked out. ”…would happen. I was just trying to defend myself.”

Katey didn’t dare open her eyes again. This was one confrontation she’d rather enjoy skipping out on.

”You’re not making any sense,” the doctor said. Somehow, her voice managed to be both like ice and fire at the same time. ”Either you tell me what’s going on right now, or I know a few people in the child protective services who would be very interested in taking a closer look at how you…”

Square-afro interrupted the doctor, who promptly shut up. She probably did the right thing, because you could feel the temperature in the room lowering at the cold fury from the square-afro woman. Katey had seen her angry before, and she had punched a hole in the ground. Now, she didn’t hear any holes being punched, or anything else being punched for that matter. But something within Katey, some deeply buried survival instinct told her that this anger was much, much more dangerous.

”I already told you, I don’t have any answers,” she said. ”I can’t tell you, because I don’t know. However, there is someone who does know…”

A strong hand and fear both grabbed Katey at the same time.

”…and I’d suggest she starts talking. Right now.”

xxXXxx

Lapis hated being poofed. Most gems do. For obvious reasons. The darkness, the silence… it was blinding and deafening in its absoluteness. It left you alone with just your own thoughts. Still not as bad as the mirror though. Then she could see and hear, but not act. That had been a million times worse. That complete helplessness… that was something she never wanted to experience again.

Which was why she had to reform. Peridot, Steven, the human Connie… they were all in danger, and she was their only hope. They needed her. She needed to make a new body, right now.

Lapis had heard some quartzes could reform within one minute after being poofed. Lapis wasn’t sure how much time had gone past since she was… inconvenienced. One minute? Two? Ten? Whatever it was, too long was what it was!

With a mental push that could literally move oceans, Lapis forced her gemstone to project a new form. No need for any changes in structure or appearance, just the same as she had been using before. It didn’t matter if it was a rush job, she just needed to get it done.

For a second, her gemstone became weightless. It floated in the air, and waves of blue light poured from it and took the familiar shape of the terraformer gem.

Her senses returned to her, all at once. Sight, hearing, touch… it was overwhelming. The first thing to hit her, even before her eyes and hearing had formed fully, was the heat. Hot, uneasy air blew against her skin. Then came the sound. A violent crackling sound. Then she opened her eyes…

…and was met by a sea of flames. For a second, they were all she saw; enormous towers of ferocious fire, reaching all the way into the blue sky filled her eyes.

The cornfield was on fire.

The rest of the world came into focus. She saw Steven, hugging Peridot, who sat behind the tractor. Several ice spikes laid beside her. Lapis couldn’t make out what they were saying over the sound of the fire, but it looked like… was he scolding her? But he was crying too?

”Erm…” Lapis’s entire new body jerked at the sudden sound. ”Are you okay?” the human Connie asked. She had been approaching Lapis from the right… and she hadn’t noticed. Maybe her senses were still a bit maladjusted.

”Y-yeah, s-sure,” Lapis stuttered. Her voice box must have been a bit wonky too. Probably because of the rushed regeneration. ”How, eh… how long was I out?”

”Just a few minutes,” Connie said. ”I’m not sure how long. Five, maybe?” She scratched the back of her head. Lapis could see she had the sword back in the sheath on her back. ”But, ah… those minutes were quite eventful! Yus…”

”I can tell,” Lapis said. ”What happened here? Who lit the field on fire?”

”Peridot did,” Connie said.

”Peridot did this?” She couldn’t believe it. Peridot? Really? How would she even…

”Yeah,” Connie said. ”She told us to hide in the barn, so we didn’t catch what happened, but I think she might have used a gasoline can? I saw something in the air which kinda looked like that. And then something to start the fire… maybe a lighter?”

Lapis looked back at Steven and Peridot by the tractor. The two looked to be arguing about something. The gas canister that had stood by the tractor was gone. It seemed Connie was right. 

”Okay,” Lapis said. She wasn’t really sure what… how to… why… ”What, erm, what are they talking about?” she asked and made a halfhearted gesture to Steven and Peridot. She still couldn’t hear clearly what they were talking about, just upset mumbling.

”I-I’m not sure,” Connie said. She rubbed her hands again like she had done after they had just been healed from all the needles. ”But I think I have an idea… Steven is probably upset she put herself in danger… you know how protective he can be. He got really scared too; a bunch of spikes hit Peridot, and he thought he saw one hit her gem.” She paused. ”So that’s-that’s probably what.”

”Did-did she really put herself in danger?” Lapis asked. She had a bad feeling in her stomach. Must have been because of her new body.

”Yeah!” Connie said, a little too excited in Lapis opinion. ”And she was super brave too! We didn’t know what to do, but she came up with a plan in no time at all! She just asked Steven for a shield, and then she ran out there. She didn’t even stop when spikes started coming from the grass!”

”Oh, wow,” Lapis muttered. ”That’s really… wow. I didn’t know she… could… you know… do something like that.”

”She is a lot tougher than she looks,” Connie said.

”Mhm.”

They stood there for a while. Connie looked at the fire and Lapis at Peridot and Steven. The two seemed to have made up and were hugging again.

Lapis wasn’t feeling so good. She didn’t know why. Her friends had been in danger, and she had failed to save them, but they had managed on their own. Peridot had stepped up and saved them. Lapis should be proud over the small technician. It was like Connie said, she really was tougher than she looked.

”Um… maybe I should put that out before it spreads?” Lapis said and pointed to the fire. Connie nodded.

”That’s probably a good idea,” she said.

Lapis nodded back. Without a word, she extended her power to the ’smaller than average lake’ outside the barn. She raised her hand, and the water followed along. She moved the body of water out above the field and spread it out like a fire-extinguishing-blanket. She carefully lowered it over the field and smothered the flames. In less than a minute, the sea of fire had been put out. Lapis left some water in the field, just in case some small spark had survived somewhere before she moved the rest of the water back into the hole by the barn.

There was something gnawing at the back of her head while she did this. A small thought she didn’t like. It kept saying the same thing over and over again. It was really irritating.

Steven and Peridot had both looked surprised when the body of water came flying over their heads. They had turned and looked at Lapis. They looked really happy to see her. They began walking towards her and Connie.

Lapis needed to get away.

”Did you find the attacker?” she asked Connie. At the same time, she summoned a smaller body of water from the lake.

”N-no,” the human girl said. ”But do you think…”

”Then I should probably go look for them,” Lapis interrupted her. She connected the water she had summoned to her gemstone and formed new wings. ”Don’t worry about me, I won’t fall for the same trick again.”

She didn’t wait for a response before taking flight again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so while I was writing chapter 8: Tigereye… that chapter… it gave me nightmares. You may think I’m joking or exaggerating, but it’s the truth. 
> 
> I dreamt I accidentally hit ’Post Without Preview' instead of ’Save Without Posting’ on the half-finished Act 2.
> 
> I don’t even use the draft function on AO3, but the dream was so convincing, that even after I fixed it in the dream, my paranoid brain refused to let me relax until I checked to make sure once I woke up again.
> 
> Don’t know why I just thought it was a funny little story.
> 
> ——————
> 
> So it turns out this chapter will be divided into at least two parts (I don’t think it’ll be more than that, but who knows?)
> 
> Be sure to stay tuned for the next chapter. It’ll hopefully be up by next Monday. And in the meantime, remember to take care of the planet Earth and that anything can happen in space!
> 
> \------------
> 
> P.S. Gah, I almost forgot! I don’t know how much attention you paid to the stats at the end of Tigereye, Act 3, specifically to Peridot’s. I don’t blame you if you skimmed over them, even I did, and I was looking for a problem. Okay, so to those of you who noticed, you might remember it said ”Status: Cracked.” That has since then been changed to ”Retired.”
> 
> See, I was planning on having Peridot’s gem actually be cracked by Tigereye’s icicle. But then I got to thinking… I realized it didn’t affect the story at all. Steven would just fix her up, and there was nothing I could win on that little plot point that I couldn’t accomplish without it. It was basically an unnecessary bit of drama and tension that ultimately lead nowhere.
> 
> So I changed it, and I think the story is (at least a little) better because of it. I only wanted to mention it here, in case any reader caught that detail and was wondering what happened.


	19. Wake Me Up, Act 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: I do not have the words to describe just how sorry I am that it took this long for me to update. There have been multiple factors contributing to this hiatus. Funnily enough, despite what I wrote in LitSWD2, the least of them have been writer’s block. I will not bother you with details, but let’s just say that work has consumed a lot of time and energy, which has seriously limited my ability to write. Now, this only been the first month at my first ever real workplace, so I trust you understand that it has been a lot to deal with. Hopefully, it’ll get better as I get more used to the place. If nothing else, I certainly feel a lot more motivated now than I have for some time, and that is thanks to all of you. That’s right, you, my wonderful readers! In the darkness, it is your words of support that illuminates the path and encourages me to push forwards. Thank you. Please enjoy.

Wake Me Up, Act 2

”All this time I was finding myself  
And I didn’t know I was lost”

Peridot was walking around where the cornfield used to be, examining the damage the fire had caused. Whenever she found herself feeling bad, Peridot would list all the positives and negatives of the situation. If the negatives outweighed the positives, the feeling was justified. If the positives outweighed the negatives, it was not.

On the good side: Everyone was alive and unharmed. While everyone aside from Steven had taken some damage, they had been restored to their previous state. The enemy was gone, which too was a positive, as it meant they would no longer be able to inflict any damage upon them.

On the bad side: The fact they were attacked in the first place. Peridot hadn’t had the time to fully analyze the implications of this, but even a cursory glance at the facts was… worrying, to say the least. The cornfield being burnt down was also a negative. She and Lapis had invested a lot of time and energy into cultivating the plants, and what was their reward?

A smoking pile of wet ash, that’s what.

The destruction was total. In some naive part of her mind, Peridot had hoped that maybe a few plants behind the corn, like the pumpkins and the carrots had survived. Nope. The fire had spread to that part of the field too. Not all of the plants were ash, but they were all dead, if not from the fire, then from Lapis smothe…

Lapis.

Peridot considered her barn mate for a second. She… wasn’t sure what had happened. Lapis had regenerated, killed the fire, and then she just left. She didn’t even say hi, or ask Peridot and Steven if they were okay. Connie had said she was searching for the enemy, but she had also sounded really unsure about it. 

What was going on?

She added ’Lapis flying away' to the list of negatives. There were now more bad things than good. Felling bad justified. Peridot didn’t know why, but she felt like kicking one of the dead pumpkins. So she did. It med her feel a bit better, so she did it again.

It couldn’t be that Lapis… no, she had said she wouldn’t. Lapis wasn’t going to leave. She promised. But then, what was wrong? Peridot knew Lapis had been through a lot, and that she was still hurt in many ways. But why now? She understood her being afraid of the Diamonds, after all, who wasn’t? 

Even if she didn’t really want to admit it, Peridot understood, deep inside her mind, that if the Diamond’s were ever to show up on Earth, Lapis might… retreat. Fair enough. But now? It was just some human. And one who had failed to cause any permanent harm to boot! Why was Lapis so upset?

”Gah!” Peridot kicked the pumpkin again. It didn’t help. She kicked it even harder, as hard as she could. The dumb Earth clod broke, and pieces of half-baked pumpkin went flying everywhere. Peridot got disgusting gunk all over her foot too.

There was a familiar whimper behind her. Indeed, when Peridot turned around, she found Pumpkin, looking at her, with an expression like she had just shattered someone. Which she technically had… though the pumpkin was already dead, and never even sentient to begin with, so the magical pet fruit was really overreacting. Really, who was she to judge? There had been a practical war zone out here, and where was Pumpkin all this time?

Peridot blinked as the realization hit her.

”Pumpkin!” she yelled. The animated pumpkin cringed and whined some. ”Where have you been all this time?” The orange fruit didn’t answer. She instead turned away and started sniffing at something on the ground. She found one pumpkin, in particular, to be very interesting. ”Hey! don’t ignore me,” Peridot hissed as the fruit ignored her. ”You could have gotten seriously hurt if that human got to you, or you got caught in the fire…” Still no response.

Another thing to add to the list of negatives: Pumpkin was disobeying her.

”Listen up,” Peridot said. ”I will count to three, and on three, you will be over here to apologize.” She paused, waiting for Pumpkin to acknowledge her, which she didn’t, because of course, she didn’t. She just kept on looking around one of the non-animated pumpkins. ”One.” What was it even that was so interesting on the ground? Nothing here but dead plants. ”Two.” Really, now she was whining and licking at it. ”Two and a half… No wait, don’t lick stuff you find on the ground!” Peridot forgot all about her countdown and trying to be assertive as she stomped over to the disobedient fruit. ”Shoo! Shoo!” she hissed. ”Get your off of that… that…” Peridot stopped in her tracks again when she saw just what it was Pumpkin was licking. It was not the dead plant. It was something behind it.

A small Earth critter. A cat. Peridot had seen them in movies. This one looked pretty small. Small enough to be hidden behind the slightly-bigger-than-average pumpkin. 

The cat didn’t look very well. It was covered in soot and ashes, and its fur singed, burned by fire. In some places, the fur was completely gone, leaving only patches of burnt skin shining through. Red liquid, blood, seeped from one of its eyes, glistening in the summer evening light.

Peridot got a bad feeling in her throat.

The cat had been caught in the fire. The fire Peridot started. This creature of Earth, the very same creature she had sworn to protect as a member of the Crystal Gems. She had killed it.

The bad feeling was guilt.

Steven was right. She really hadn’t thought her plan through. She would have to be more careful next time. Assuming there was a next time...

”Shh, stop that now,” she said and yanked half-heartedly at Pumpkin’s leash-like tendril. The gourd whined but stopped licking the dead animal. ”Um... we should maybe... bury it?” Peridot wasn’t sure what it meant exactly, but she had heard it on an episode of Camp Pining Heart. Season one, episode twenty-three. Ellie's pet, also a cat had died, and they had ’buried’ it. That was a sad episode.

Peridot scooped up the small animal in her arms. She figured she should ask Connie. The human girl probably knew what to do.

”Gyah!” Peridot nearly dropped the thing as it started whimpering in her arms. Oh thank the stars, it was still alive. well, forget Connie then, she needed to get Steven! She looked back towards the barn, scanning for her half-gem friend with the healing powers. There!

”Steven!” she yelled. He had been talking with Connie. He looked up. Peridot couldn’t fully make out his expression, but she guessed ’confused.’

”What?” he yelled back. ”Did you want something Peridot? Did you find something?”

”Yes!” she answered. ”I… if you could… I need help!”

If she squinted, she could see their expressions turn from confused, to ’a little confused, but mostly worried.’ They looked at each other, nodded and…

”Hold on!” Steven yelled, ”We’re coming to you.” The something very strange happened. Steven and Connie grabbed each others’ hands and ran forward as if bracing for something. The two of them were enveloped in a bright light, from which… someone new sprung forth. A fusion.

The fusion jumped high into the air above the burnt-down field. They rose higher and higher until their momentum slowed to a crawl, and gravity took over, beginning to pull them back towards the planet’s center. Or rather, that’s what would have happened, if the fusion hadn’t started flying! They paddled their feet back and forth as if running on the air. Scientifically speaking, the air draft generated by this motion should not be enough to sustain elevation, nor push a figure of the mass Peridot could assume the fusion was forward the way it did… then again, gems could adapt to alternating gravitational pull… it was not an impossibility that there might be gems capable of consciously manipulating this ability, allowing them to control the effect gravity exerted on them. Considering the sheer number and scale of abilities Rose Quartz had possessed, Peridot supposed one more didn’t really matter.

That didn’t explain how Steven was able to fuse with a human though. Peridot had seen him fuse with Amethyst before, sure, but she was a gem. Gems were meant to able to do that. It was in their design. Humans, and other Earth creatures on the other hand? They shouldn't be able to fuse. It should be impossible.

”Yo!” the fusion said as they landed in front of the stunned Peridot. ”What did you say you needed help with?”

Peridot suppressed the many questions that had sprung into her mind the last three or so seconds. This day was racking up quite a lot of questions. They would have to wait until later.

”Steve… em… you need to heal this cat!” She held up the little animal. It had started whimpering a bit louder, and even moving its head, its undamaged eye flickering, opening and closing rapidly. It was either a good sign or a bad sign.

The fusion’s eyes went wide in horror at the sight of the poor animal. As quickly as they had formed, they split apart again, leaving the one-and-a-half human kids standing in front of Peridot. Steven wasted no time. He gently grabbed the little cat from Peridot. He examined it and winced when he realized just how badly the cat was injured. 

”What happened here?” Connie asked.

”Oh, I don’t know, what do you think happened?” Peridot snarked. She regretted it immediately. She understood why Connie had asked a question with such an obvious answer; she felt useless. Peridot knew how that felt. ”I, uh… found it here… or, well, Pumpkin found it. It had, ah… gotten caught in the fire.”

Connie nodded but didn’t say anything. She instead looked back at Steven, the only useful person there a the moment.

He was cradling the cat in one arm like one might do with a small, newly made human. He whispered softly to the cat. At the same time, he licked his hand, covering it in spit.

”There, there, ” he told the cat, obviously in great distress, as it tried to muster the power to break free from his grip. ”I just wanna help…” he touched the cat’s head with his saliva-covered hand. The cat stopped moving and shivered. Its body became tense as the saliva on its head started glowing in a soft pink light.

Without warning, enormous yellow electrical sparks erupted all over the cat’s body, and the cat started screaming. It was the only word that fit. It didn’t whimper, meow or howl. It screamed. A deep, primal scream, a scream of pain. It was unlike anything Peridot had ever heard before. The closest thing that came to mind was the cluster, but that was... different.

Steven yelped in surprise. The cat was thrashing and he dropped it to the ground, where it kept on kicking and howling.

Every muscle in the little animal’s body tensed, as the electrical sparks around it intensified in one last great surge around its hurt eye, and… as suddenly as it began, it stopped.

The cat laid still and silent on the ground. The only sign it was alive was its side moving as it breathed, slowly and heavily.

Everyone was silent. Peridot, Steven, Connie, even Pumpkin had been stunned at what had just happened.

”I-is that normal?” Peridot asked in her ’small’ voice.

”N-no,” Steven said. ”That has never happened before… it looked like she was in pain…” He looked over at Connie, who just shook her head.

”Healing has never hurt on me,” she said. ”And there’s usually not that many sparks…”

The three of them all kneeled next to the cat to have a closer look. It looked fine. Its breathing was steady. The patches of burnt skin had been healed and the fur regrown. The healing had even, somehow, cleaned off all the soot, ashes and blood from the fur, making it shine like it had just been polished. Despite the apparent anguish the cat had just gone through, it looked awfully peaceful as it started moving again.

The small animal cat-moaned and opened its eyes. A pinch of dust fell out of its right eye. Probably just excess material from regenerating damaged tissue. It blinked a few times and looked up at Steven, Connie, and Peridot. It may have been the second or third cutest thing Peridot had ever seen.

The cat yawned and stood up, a little shaky at first. It stretched its legs and back. It then looked back at the trio surrounding it. Peridot wasn’t sure what it was, but it looked like the cat wanted to… say something? It was a ridiculous thought; most life on Earth, including cats, couldn’t talk. They were simply too primitive, their brains too simple. Even Pumpkin, who had been artificially altered by the magical properties of Steven’s spit hadn’t shown herself able to express ideas or concepts of any higher meaning. So the notion that a cat wanted to say something was an illogical one. Cats are simple creatures, who only communicate simple ideas. Humans or gems might not understand them, due to the difference in how they exchange information.

And yet… the cat was staring directly at Peridot, right into her eyes, like there was something it wanted to ’say.’ Like there was an idea it wanted to express beyond what creatures like itself normally do.

Peridot felt a chilly sensation traveling down her back. Did… did it know?

”Hey, you feeling better now?” Steven said softly and held out his hand to the little animal. The cat broke eye contact with Peridot, instead concentrating on Steven. Peridot felt a wave of relief. It may be a bit hypocritical, her being a gem and all, but there was something about the cat that felt… unnatural. Something that had unnerved her.

The cat smelled Steven’s hand. It must have liked the smell because it started rubbing its head against it while emitting a pleasant purring sound. Steven chuckled, and started petting the cat, scratching it behind its ears.

”Hey Steven, I think she’s thanking you!” Connie said as she too joined in petting the little cat.

”Well, you’re welcome,” Steven laughed and gave the cat an extra scratch to emphasize the point. ”But you really should be thanking Peridot, she’s the one who found you.”

True enough she supposed. Technically speaking, Pumpkin was the one to first discover the broken cat and had alerted Peridot to it. Still, it was likely she would have found it herself, and she was the one who alerted Steven. So saying Peridot found the cat was not inaccurate. But she was also the reason the cat got hurt in the first place.

She had almost killed it.

Her reckless plan had very nearly meant the end for this creature. Sure, it had been an emergency, but that didn't make it right. It was, after all, her sworn duty to protect all life on planet Earth as part of the Crystal Gems… Yet she had endangered the life of this, and possibly many more creatures in her ill-thought through plan. It was pure luck the cat had survived the sea of flaming death Peridot had unwittingly unleashed upon it. And judging by the stares it had been giving her earlier, the cat knew that she was to blame.

It probably blamed her. Which it was right to do. It was right to hate her. After all, she was the one that had nearly killed it…

”Nyah!” Absorbed by her thoughts, Peridot hadn’t noticed the cat walking up to her. She had been squatting, balancing on the tip if her feet, and was caught off-guard by the cat suddenly starting to stroke itself against her. As a result of this (and poor balance), she toppled over, landing on her butt. ”Ugh,” she groaned. Second time falling over today (not counting being knocked over by the attacker, because of different circumstances invalidating comparison). At least Steven and Connie wouldn’t tease her about it later… no, they would just laugh at her now.

”He he… hey, look Peridot, I think she’s trying to say ’thanks’!” Steven said, gesturing towards the cat.

Peridot looked down at the beast that had assaulted her. Then she regretted doing that because the cat was staring at her like it had before. With big, unblinking eyes hiding some mysterious message. It was still purring, but a lot softer, only a faint hum. Peridot knew there was a lot you could tell about someone’s emotions and thoughts by looking into their eyes, but she had never been any good at it. But she tried. What was it the cat was trying to tell her?

xxXXxx

’Thank you, thank you, thank you, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, so, so sorry, thank you…’

xxXXxx

She had absolutely no idea.

”What do I do?” Peridot whispered. Not that she had any delusions the cat wouldn’t hear her… but it felt better whispering. She didn’t let go of eye contact. Or anything else for that matter. She just half-sat there in the grass, staring into the cat’s bright blue eyes.

”Try petting her like we did,” Steven whispered back.

”How do I do that?” Peridot said. She was growing more desperate. The cat hadn’t blinked yet, and it was beginning to seriously freak her out.

”Er… I don’t know, how do you pet Pumpkin? Just do that.”

Really? Was it that simple? Didn’t different animals require different petting routines?

Peridot extended her arm. It was shaking way more than what was befitting of the leader of the Crystal Gems. She put it on the cat’s head… still keeping eye contact… and scratched lightly.

For a second, it felt as if the potential energy of the situation caused the molecules in the air around them to bond together into a material thick enough so that it could be cut with a simple cutting device.

In other words, you could cut the tension with a knife.

…

It worked! The cat’s purring grew louder again. it closed its eyes and rubbed its head against Peridot’s hand. The action was pleasurable!

”There you go,” Steven said and nodded with approval. ”See, that wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

”I-I suppose not,” Peridot muttered. She crossed her legs, sitting up in a more comfortable position. The cat took this as an invitation and promptly positioned itself in Peridot’s lap. Which was pretty similar to what Pumpkin would do. The cat was a lot softer and warmer. Pumpkin had a solid outer shell and didn’t exude any heat. In comparison, the cat was a like a little fluffy heater. It was… nice. Peridot could definitely get used to this.

”I think she likes you,” seven said. ”Heh, go figure you’d have a good hand with animals too.”

”Y-you really think so?”

”Yeah. Cats can be difficult to handle, even if they’re tame. They can take a lot of time to build trust. It took me forever to get Lion to respond to my calls. But this one seems to just instantly like you.”

Connie decided to pipe up. ”Once when we were looking at adopting a kitten, we found this really cute one, but it kept biting mom, so we, uh… didn’t… get a cat.” She piped down again.

Peridot had never met Connie’s mom, but Connie was an impressive specimen, so she could only imagine what her mother would be like. And if even she had difficulties handling the tiny little Earth critter, then Peridot felt safe bearing her head high in pride. Despite putting it in danger, the cat liked her. It had even felt safe enough around her to put itself in a vulnerable position, at the complete mercy of the green gem.

”Wow, thanks,” she said. ”Those words mean a lot to me. They really do. It’s hard for me to explain, but I…” Peridot’s attempt at emotional honest was interrupted by a loud, way too happy ringtone filling the air.

”S-sorry, hold that thought,” Steven said, as he fumbled with his phone. ”But it might be important…” Peridot gritted her teeth in frustration as Steven git up and started walking away. ”Unknown number,” she heard him say before pressing the ”accept” button. ”Hello, this is Steven Universe?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note
> 
> *something witty and funny relating to the chapter*
> 
> I had originally planned for this act to be divided into two scenes; this above one following the Barn team and finding Tigereye, the other following the rest of the Crystal Gems and Katey. So, spoilers, but that is Pearl calling Steven at the end of this scene. 
> 
> Now, for obvious reason, I’ve decided to split them up, so WMU will be getting three acts. I don’t know when it will be out. The most desirable scenario would be one act/week, but if the last month is anything to go by, that might be hard to manage. I’ll try my best to be more productive, so… maybe Wednesday the 8th? That’s about one and a half week. if I’m not ready by then, I’ll let you know.
> 
> ————
> 
> So it was recently asked in the reviews if Red Stone of Aja was a gem. I would have sent a PM, but, uh… ”Guest” left a review as a guest, so I couldn’t. But anyways, I thought it was a valid question to consider. Now, I’m no xForts, so I had to look it up on the JoJo wiki. To quote:
> 
> ”The Red Stone of Aja (エイジャの赤石 Eija no Sekiseki), also known as the Super Aja (スパーエイジャ Supā Eija), pronounced similar to "Asia," is a perfect gemstone sought by the Pillar Men and the main plot device for Battle Tendency.”
> 
> So yes, the Red Stone of Aja is a gem. I hope it was of help.
> 
> *whistles not at all suspiciously*
> 
> *sees readers glaring at me*
> 
> What, were you expecting something else?
> 
> ————-
> 
> Anyways, once again, thank you all for reading, following, favoriting, leaving reviews and all for that stuff. It is really appreciated. So, until next time, remember to take care of the planet Earth and that anything can happen in space!


	20. Wake Me Up, Act 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have returned from my time in the mountains, with a brand new chapter of JoJo and the Crystal Gems! Please enjoy.

** Wake Me Up, Act 3 **

_”Feeling my way through the darkness  
_ _Guided by a beating heart  
_ _I can’t tell where this journey will end  
_ _But I know where to start”  
  
_ ”Hello, this is Steven Universe?”

A wave of relief washed over Pearl when she heard Steven’s voice. She wasn’t sure why, but a foreboding feeling had crept over her when she picked up the phone. It had felt like something was wrong. Like Steven was in danger. But no, that was ridiculous, her mind was just playing tricks on her after a long and stressful day. Steven was safe and sound, at the barn with Connie, Peridot, and Lapis. There were no dangers out there.

”Hi Steven, it’s me, Pearl,” she said.

”Oh,” Steven said. In the background, Pearl could hear what sounded like Peridot and Connie whispering loudly. ”The caller ID said ’unknown number,’ so I didn’t know it was you… whose phone are you calling from?”

”That’s, ah… not important right now,” Pearl said quickly. She made a mental note to give everyone who might need it her phone number later. And also to figure out a good excuse for why she hadn’t bothered to tell anyone before. ”The thing is that we… need your help.”

”You need my help?” The young half-gem asked, worry in his voice. ”What is it? Another attack? Was someone hurt? Where are you right now? How…?”

”Please, slow down Steven,” Pearl interrupted him. ”Yes, there was another attack… though the circumstances are a bit… confusing. The reason I called is that, there’s someone who needs healing.”

”Who…?”

”Don’t worry, they’re not in any danger,” Pearl quickly interjected. ”It’s actually the one who attacked us who is hurt… Um… yeah, I think it’s best if you just got over here… We’re at the hospital…” Pearl glanced at the sign next to the door. ”… Room two-hundred and sixteen. That’s the second floor. First corridor after the elevator. The room is to the right…”

”The hospital, room two-hundred-sixteen,” Steven said. ”Got it, I’ll be there in a minute. Love you, bye.”

”I love you too,” Pearl said, but the boy had already hung up. She sighed and put the phone back in her gemstone. She did so hesitantly; with her luck today, it would probably get lost in there if she wasn’t careful. She turned to face the rest of the group in the hospital room.

”Steven’s on his way,” she announced.

”I think we could gather that much ourselves,” Doctor Maheswaran said dryly. ”We could hear the phone call, you know.” She was not exactly… in the best of moods. Which was understandable. Pearl was not an expert on human laws, but she figured that the doctor was breaking a fair few number of rules and regulations in order to help the gems.

…

The fact that they had barged into the hospital carrying an unconscious and bleeding human girl might’ve also had something to do with it.

”Good,” Garnet said, competing in dryness with the doctor. The two of them had already butted head a few times. As soon as the girl had woken up, Garnet had wanted to start questioning her, but Doctor Maheswaran had insisted she get to run a few tests on the girl to make sure she was in stable condition. She had also refused to leave the room, demanding she get an explanation of just what the hell was going on. Which Pearl assumed was fair enough, considering all the trouble they had caused her. Garnet on the other hand… was in a bit of a huff herself. Forced defusion tended to have that effect on her.

”Now…” the fusion said and turned to the girl in the bed. Pearl could have sworn she actually saw the girl shrink a little in the bedsheets. Her eyes darted from Garnet to Pearl, Amethyst, Doctor Maheswaran, and back to Garnet again. ”…speak.” It should be obvious it was an order, not a request.

Now was the moment of truth. So many questions would finally be answered. Wha was this girl? What was the strange power she wielded? How was she connected to the muggers? And most important, why did she attack them in the first place? The frustration and confusion ended here.

The girl opened her mouth to speak.

”I… I’m…” Without warning, the girl’s face scrunched up in an ugly grimace. Her eyes started leaking, huge tears rolling down her cheeks, landing on her hospital gown. ”I’m so sorry!” she bawled. ”I’m so, so, so sorry! I-I didn’t… I didn’t want to, b-but he-he-he…” the rest of the sentence was cut short by a violent hiccup.

Pearl wasn’t sure what she had expected really. But still… She knew better than to sympathize too much with the enemy… but still, she couldn’t help but feel a sting of guilt when she looked at the crying mess in front of her. Tears flowing like small waterfalls, nose running and her speech incoherent, chopped up by sniffles and hiccups.

”Plea-please, I did-didn’t mean-want… I-I-I… Sorry!” the girl managed to stutter forth in between her sobbing. 

Garnet was less impressed. ”If you’re ’sorry,’ then show it,” she said, leaning in towards the girl so close their faces nearly touched. Even with her eyes being hidden behind the reflective visor, you could tell she was fixing the girl with her stare. ”Less crying, more talking. Explain yourself.”

The girl actually did make a visible attempt to calm down, which worked… so-so.

”I-I… I’m not sure where to…?”

”Maybe start with who you are?” Pearl said, with a softer tone than Garnet. What’s your name?”

”K-Katey,” the girl said. She took a deep, quivering breath. ”Katey. My name is Katey. I, uh… I’m not sure what exactly I’m supposed to say?”

”Your power,” Garnet said. ”What exactly did you do to us… to me?”

”Oh, that is… I’m actually not sure what it is…” Katey said meekly. ”I don’t really have any idea what it actually is…”

”What the heck do you mean by that?” Amethyst asked. ”How can you not know what your own power is? Wasn’t it like connected to your hand or something?”

”Well, I mean, it is…” Katey said. ”But, I’ve only had it since… after lunchtime, I think? So I don’t know all the details Just that it’s a bunch of rags come flying out hand in stings, andthen attaches itself to a person and draws out an evil twin.”

”Wait, what?” Doctor Maheswaran said.

”Yeah, I got it after getting stabbed with an arrow by a man in the woods…”

”Wait, what!?”

Garnet sighed. ”Maybe it would be better to simply start from the beginning… Tell us how you got this power, and what made you attack us,” she told the human named Katey.

”Okay,” Katey said, a bit hesitantly.” She contemplated what to say for a minute, took another deep breath, and started talking. ”So, me and my family are on vacation, and just arrived in Beach City yesterday. I was hanging out in town today, just wasting time, you know? Visited this arcade, which, I didn’t even know there were any arcades anymore, other than as nostalgia places. I was actually really excited to tell my dad, he’s really into video games, he would love that place…”

Pearl sent Amethyst a quick look. Amethyst understood and nodded subtly.

”He always goes on and on about how us kids have no idea what real gaming is all about, but actually met a few other teens there, so that would make him really happy I think…”

Amethyst suddenly contracted a very powerful cough. ”Cough, cough, gettothepoint, cough.”

”Oh,” Katey said sheepishly. ”Uh… anyways, I met this guy, who was really cute. Kevin, I think he said his name was. We started talking, and he asked me to come with him on a walk, and I like a good walk sometimes, so I did, and… hey, this is actually important!” she suddenly snapped, having noticed Pearl and Amethyst shooting each other another look.

”Sorry,” Amethyst muttered.

Katey humphed, but accepted the apology. ”So yeah, I was walking with this guy in the woods around the city. There are actually some really weird things out there, these weird crystal things and old ruin-looking things… some of them actually looked like something read in a magazine, about some old structures supposedly older than human civilization…”

Amethyst glared at the girl once more.

”… anyhow, while we were walking, he suddenly started acting really weird. I thought he was nervous cause… you know…” Katey suddenly looked very embarrassed. Even with all the blood she had lost her cheeks still turned one shade darker.

”I’m not sure I understand what you mean…” Pearl began to say, but Amethyst quickly elbowed her in the side. ”Uh… in what way was he acting weird?” she changed the question.

”Oh, ah… well, you know, he…” the blushing girl said nervously. ”He started getting twitchy and sweaty, looking around him like he thought we were being followed… he started stuttering… that kinda stuff? We were really far into the woods at that point, and the leaves were blocking out the sun, so I was beginning to get scared, and…” the color drained from Katey’s face again, and she choked on her words a little. ”That’s when… _he_ appeared.” The girl shivered and looked smaller and more fragile than ever.

”It-it happened so fast,” she said. ”Suddenly, someone lunged from the shadows and something stabbed me in the hand…” she nodded towards her bandaged right hand. ”He-he… the figure, he told me… that there were some people in Beach City that he needed me to get rid off…” A tear rolled down Katey’s face. ”And he said that if I refused… he would kill my family…” The girl started crying again, a bit softer this time. ”P-please… please, you have too… I don’t want my family to..”

”Of course we will…” Pearl began to say, but Garnet interrupted her.

”The man who attacked you,” she said. Her hands were closed into fists. ”What did he look like?”

”I-I… He was in the shadows, so I didn’t get a good look…” Katey stuttered.

”He was completely covered in the shadows? No sunlight at all?”

”Yeah… no, no sunlight at all. I could only see his silhouette… but he was huge… like two meters tall, and made of muscle… I think his hair was blonde? It didn’t look like he was wearing any clothes either…”

Garnet turned to the two other Crystal Gems. Pearl looked sick, and Amethyst had turned shades lighter.

”No,” Pearl whispered. ”You can’t be serious. You don’t think it’s really one of them, do you?”

”I’m-I’m not sure,” Garnet said, her fists shaking, if ever so slightly. ”Maybe. I just… have a hunch.”

”But that’s impossible,” Amethyst winced. ”They’re all dead.”

”Excuse me, but what are you talking about?” Doctor Maheswaran asked. ”What is it that is impossible? Who is dead?”

Pearl and Amethyst looked at Garnet, desperate for someone to tell them what to say. Garnet herself seemingly stared off into empty space for a few seconds.

Suddenly, her head snapped towards the door.

”Steven and Connie are coming,” she said. ”Mom Maheswaran, I understand you’re confused, but I’m afraid it will have to wait. Let’s just say ’they’ are an old enemy of ours. One we would prefer the children didn’t learn of, at least for now”

”But I…” Doctor Maheswaran began saying, but her protests were cut off by a roar coming from the corridor, a pink light shining through the blinds and a huge pink lion carrying one and a half humans, one and a half gems, a small cat and a pumpkin crashing in through the door.

”Gyah!” Doctor Maheswaran yelped in surprise and shock at the sudden chaos and destruction!

”S-sorry,” Steven said, dismounting from his mighty steed. ”Lion isn’t very good at teleporting inside houses… too cramped.” The pink feline shot him a look, before lying down, letting the other passengers off.

”No, it’s good that you came here so fast, Steven,” Garnet told him. ”We have someone who needs healing here.”

”Yeah, that would be… you, right?” Steven said, and nodded towards Katey.

”Yeah, sure…” Katey said absentmindedly. ”Say, is it just the painkillers messing with my head, or is that a pink lion?”

Steven laughed. ”No, that is a pink magical lion alright,” he chuckled.

”O-of course,” Katy muttered. ”Makes as much sense as anything else today. So, uh…were you the one that’s going to fix my hand?”

”I guess,” Steven shrugged. The young boy suddenly frowned. ”Pearl said that the person who needed healing was the someone who attacked them,” he said and stared into the teen girl’s eyes.

”S-sorry,” she said. Steven starring into her eyes made her feel like he could see right into her soul. ”I didn’t really want to…”

Garnet put her hand on Steven’s shoulder. ”It’s okay, Steven. She has already explained herself to us. She was forced to attack us.”

”What? What do you mea…?”

”Just heal her, and we’ll explain,” Garnet said.

”O-okay,” Steven hesitated. ”So, ah… this might be a little weird…” he warned the teen girl.

”Oh really? Something being weird toda-uahg!” The boy slapped his hand, wet with saliva, on her arm. ”Ew, was that spit? Gro-ohss!”

Gross but effective; the spit gave off its characteristic pink glow and yellow electrical sparks. Katey sat upright, her energy magically refilled. She groaned and grabbed her bandaged right hand. Crackling sounds emanated from the package. Inside it, bones arranged and melded themselves together, nerves and tendons reconnected and the wound sealed itself. 

Katey tore the bandage packet off from her hand, to find it completely healed.

”Whoa…” she whispered. ”You actually did it.”

”You’re welcome,” Steven said and smiled.

”Well done, Steven,” Garnet said and patted him on the shoulder. ”Now, I think that…”

”Connie!” Doctor Maheswaran’s voice cut through the air like a scalpel. ”Just what on Earth happened to your shirt!?”

Everyone’s attention was suddenly on the young girl, with a cat in her arms, and a shirt covered in blood.

”Uh… there was an… incident?” she said and hugged the cat a little tighter.

”I… think we all have a lot to tell each other,” Garnet sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lampman's back, alright!
> 
> And with this chapter I can finally cross ”Ugly Crying” and ”Inelegant Blubbering” off the list of ”Everything Steven Universe Related Needs.”
> 
> One thing that I often do, whether consciously or not, is that I often put bits of myself in characters I’m writing. Which makes sense. The old saying is ”write what you know,” and myself is the person I know best. In this chapter, in particular, I (unconsciously) gave Katey some of my tendency to ramble and go on tangents. I’m sure you noticed that trait, especially in some of the older chapters.
> 
> Gonna be honest, I think this chapter could have been better, especially the last bit, but after so many months of a half-finished draft looming over me, I just wanted to get done with it so I could move on.  
> I did consider writing a short ”Two explanations later…” to milk some more information and reactions to said information… but it felt like I ruined the ”rhythm” of the chapter.
> 
> That’s why I will do something a bit… different next chapter. Be on the lookout, it should be out sometime in the coming six months or so. Ciao!
> 
> Buuuuut until then, take care of the planet Earth, and remember that anything can happen in space!


	21. Santana 1: All I Ever Wanted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: The note at the end of this chapter contains important information. Please read it to avoid confusion in the future. Thank you. Please enjoy.

**  
** **Chapter 10**

”…and that’s what happened,” Katey said, having told her story again for a new audience. ”The rest is, as they say, history. I mean, it was only a few hours ago, so it’s not really ’history’ as much as it is ’events that happened not-that-long-ago.’ Though I suppose any past event is history by technicality, it’s just not…”

”So there’s someone lurking in the woods with an arrow that gives people superpowers?” Connie ignored Katey’s ramblings regarding the semantics of language. ”That’s… really freaky,” the young girl said and shivered.

”Yeah…” Steven said. His usual smile missing. ”Tall, blonde and muscular… I don’t think I know anyone who fits that description.”

”Me neither,” Connie said. ”But hey, what about the boy Katey was talking about? The one who tricked her to follow him into the woods, to the person with the arrow?” She turned to Katey. ”Hey, Katey, what did you say that boy looked like?”

”Ah, well… he was tall, brown hair, uh… he had one of those circle scarf thingies that go around the neck… Said his name was Kevin…. He was kinda dorky, you know, trying way too hard to act cool…”

”Wh-what did you say?” Steven interrupted her. ”Did you say ’Kevin?’”

Katey frowned. ”Yeah, I mean, that’s what he said, but he could have been lying for all I know…”

Connie’s eyes had become wide with shock. ”And he was trying way too hard to act cool?”

”I thought it was kinda cute actually…”

The two kid Crystal Gems looked at each other.

”Did he keep calling you ’baby?’” they asked with one voice.

”Uh… yeah, he did,” Katey said quite sheepishly. ”What, do you know him?”

_Well, I told you ’bout your attitude_  
_And it didn’t do me any good_  
_Cause you took your love away  
_ _Left me here alone with all this lonely heartache_

**Santana 1: All I Ever Wanted**

When?

Aday earlier, at that magical time where the summer day seamlessly turns into a summer night. The sun setting behind the distant forest, struggling to cast a few last rays of light onto the land.

Where? 

A few kilometers outside of Beach City, in a large expensive villa, like a fairy tale castle of old in the modern world. And there it was; the young prince’s carriage, a yellow sports car, pulling up on the driveway of the property. 

Who? 

Kevin. Professional charmer, stealer of women's’ hearts and cool guy extraordinaire. He had just returned home after yet another long day of being just about the most interesting person in this part of Delmarva. Not that it was all that hard, really. The only other remotely interesting person was Stevonnie, and they were… a special case.

A stray ray of sunlight bounced off the pool and caught Kevin’s attention. His eye twitched, and he muttered a curse to himself.

His previous good mood ruined, Kevin wasted no time looking at the romantic sunset. He entered the dark house.

Kevin hummed on some lame summer hit he had heard on the radio when he passed by the hall mirror. He shot it one of his trademark Charming Smiles™.

”Hello there, pretty,” he said, smoother than butter. ”You come here often?”

His reflection looked back at him, unamused. ”Really?” it said.

”Well, you’re no fun,” Kevin muttered and continued on a leisurely stroll towards the kitchen.

Man, it really was dark inside. The entire house seemed to be bathed in heavy shadows. He could have sworn that he had at least left the lamp in the kitchen on. And… had he really pulled the drapes over the windows?

Kevin ran his hand along the wall, trying to find the light switch.

Now, don’t think that Kevin was afraid of the dark. He definitely didn’t feel like there was someone or something hiding in the dark just waiting to leap out at him. He just didn’t want to bump into any of the expensive furniture, was all. His heart was not beating a little harder and a little faster than usual.

He found the light switch. With a sigh of relief, he pushed it.

「CLICK」

Nothing happened. Kevin pressed it again.

「CLICK」

The lamp remained unlit.

「CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK」

Kevin furiously mashed the light button, which proved to be useless, as the lamp still did not light up.

”Fucking trash,” Kevin mumbled and took his phone from his pocket. Screw the lamp, he’d just use the flashlight in his phone. He fumbled a bit but managed to turn on the small but powerful lamp in his phone. And in the light, he saw… nothing in particular. Just an empty room, and some glass shards on the floor, just below the where the lamp that didn’t work was.

Obviously, it had spontaneously exploded by itself while Kevin was away. So he should probably go get a new one. Right now. He better hurry before any of the stores where you buy lamps closed. 

Kevin ran for the door. He didn’t get far.

”Argh,” screamed Kevin as someone grabbed him by the wrist. ”Gyah.”Someone very big and very powerful lifted him from the floor. They had emerged from behind a corner and was still mostly hidden in the shadows.

Oh no, p-please don’t hurt me,” Kevin cried. ”T-take whatever you want, just don’t kill me, p-please…”

The man in the shadows tilted his head.

”Kill?” he said softly. He placed his index finger on the crying Kevin’s forehead. ”No.”

”Gah!” Something sharp stabbed Kevin in the head. A shockwave of pain spread through his body. He was panicking, crying uncontrollably and kicking his attacker, trying to get away. His heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest.

And then… it didn’t. Kevin could feel his heart rhythm slowing down. The pain faded away. He suddenly felt… calm. He stopped struggling. There was no use.

The man in the shadows set him down again.

”Hey, why did do that? You nearly scared me to death,” Kevin said. He picked up his phone. He had dropped it before.

”I don’t like the light,” the figure in the shadows said. ”Turn it off.”

Kevin shrugged. ”Kay,” he said. He turned the light in his phone off.

Kevin felt hungry. He started walking towards the kitchen.

”Will anyone else be coming here?” the stranger asked.

”Nah,” Kevin said. ”Mom’s on a business trip.Dad never bothered to stick around. I’m all alone.”

The man didn’t reply.

”Anyways, I’m hungry,” Kevin said. ”I’m gonna make a sandwich. You want one?”

”No,” the man said. He began following the young man, slow and quiet. Like a cat.

Kevin had never had a cat. He had a fur allergy. Not like he cared. He didn’t like animals anyway.

He entered the kitchen. It was really hard to make a sandwich in the dark. But he managed.Muscle memory or whatever.

”If you don’t mind me asking,” Kevin said. ”What are you doing in my house? Hiding from the cops?”

”Cop…?” the stranger mumbled. ”No… I am allergic to sunlight.”

Kevin shrugged. ”Beleive it or not, that is not the craziest thing I’ve heard lately.” He started eating the sandwich.

”What is the craziest thing you’ve heard lately?”

”Two lame kids transforming into one hot and super cool teen,” Kevin said.

The stranger looked puzzled. ”I don’t understand,” he said.

”There are these two kids down in Beach City,” Kevin explained. He had finished the sandwich. ”Stephen and Conny. And sometimes when they’re close they like…” he did a gesture with his hands, interlocking his fingers. ”…combine into one person.”

”And they are humans?” the stranger asked.

”You wouldn’t think so…” Kevin said. A brief spark of life returned to his eyes. ”They are… the coolest person around. Strong and independent, and beautiful…”

Kevin started walking to his room. He was feeling very tired right now. Must have been the rush of adrenaline before.

”Ste-von-ie,” the stranger tasted the word. ”Do you ’love’ them?” he asked.

Kevin blushed. ”Wha-no. I just want to… you know… have them?”

”You want to… own them?”

”When you put it like that, it sounds kinda creepy,” Kevin said. ”I’m not some kind of crazy stalker. I just… it gets lonely on the top, you know?” He opened the door to his room. Inside, he was greeted by a mirror. His reflection looked back at him, absolutely terrified.

”What are you doing!?” it yelled at him. ”Run, you dumbass!” It banged on the mirror glass separating their two worlds.

Kevin felt the strong hand of the stranger grabbing his shoulder. ”Fascinating,” he said. ”I understand what it’s like being alone… even if you’re not.” A cold metal edge was pressed against Kevin’s chest. Right over his heart. 

”Let me help you.”

xxXXxx

「Kevin MacLeod」  
Professional charmer, stealer of women's’ hearts and cool guy extraordinaire.

Blood type: O  
Cool Level: 9 001  
Favorite Food: Has a sweet spot for Hasselback potatoes  
Secret: Really wants to be a fashion designer

Stand: Lonely Heart

Description: Lonely Hearts makes it so its user never has to be alone.

**This Concludes JoJo and the Crystal Gems part one: Phantom Corruption**

<—To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn’t find any official last name for Kevin anywhere, so I gave him the name ’MacLeod’ as a nod to the composer/musician Kevin MacLeod. He makes royalty free music and distributes it online. Basically, he makes the music for all the youtubers. Look up ”Sneaky Snitch,” and you’ll see what I mean.  
> His stand is named after something else though.
> 
> THE IMPORTANT PART: When I first started writing this story, I only had a very, very loose picture in mind of what was actually going to happen. It was exceedingly poorly thought out, and the current plan looks vastly different. At the time, I had several times tried my hand at writing longer fanfics, making grand plans chapter-by-chapter… without actually getting any story written. So when I got the ’inspiration’ to write this one, I basically said ’screw it’ and just started writing.
> 
> This had lead to me making some odd decisions when writing which I later regretted. For example, Katey referring to the Gems as aliens. At this point, there is no reason she would know of their extraterrestrial origin.
> 
> Another one: In the notes of chapter 7.2 I said that, in this story, I would ignore cannon, and keep Pink Diamond and Rose Quartz as separate characters. I did that for (backstory stuff). I didn’t realize I could use it to (spoilers).
> 
> Thankfully, the format of fanfiction allows me to go back and edit stupid mistakes like that. Which is what I’ve done. I have:  
> •Removed every time Katey referred to the gems as aliens  
> •Edited a bit of dialogue in chapter 7.2 (happy now, mdudegamer?)  
> •Removed Jason’s reference to a ”holy man” in chapter 7.3 (that character will no longer feature in the story)  
> •Added an ”h” to one word in one line of dialogue of chapter 6.
> 
> Most important of all, I retract my previous statement about the true identity of Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond. I’ve realized I can make an even better story by incorporating the fact that I could without it.
> 
> xxXXxx
> 
> Wow, that was a lot of boring talk. Hopefully, the next chapter will be a bit more fun. We’ll have to see. I can’t promise anything, but hopefully, it’ll be ready in two weeks. So until we meet again, take care of the planet Earth, and remember that anything can happen in space!


	22. Secret Service

Lamp Entertainment presents…

**Chapter 11: Secret Service**

Empire City Airport…

”Man, I’m beat!” Okuyasu yawned. He stretched his sore limbs. ”How long were we even on that plane?”

”I don’t know man, I lost track after the first three hours,” Josuke said, rubbing his temples. ”Ugh, I think I got a headache… Feels like my entire body went through a wringer… twice.”

”Sixteen hours,” Koichi said. Black bags clung to the underside of his eyes and his hair was sagging. ”Sixteen hours between Sendai and Angel City, and then five hours between Angel City and Empire City.”

Josuke and Okuyasu both groaned loudly. Their current mood could be described as either ’mangled’ or ’beat up.’

”Look alive,” Jotaro said. ”We still have our ways to go before we reach Beach City.”

More groaning.

”I swear, once this whole thing is over with, I’ll walk home,” Okuyasu muttered.

”Me too, buddy,” Josuke said and patted his friend on the back. The normally tough teen winced from the contact; in his state, the pat was equivalent to getting hit with a baseball bat.

Jotaro scoffed. ”You should be happy the flight went so smoothly.”

”Smoothly? This guy…” Josuke kicked the enemy stand user Jason lightly on the leg. ”…almost had everyone on that plane killed, including us. Koichi nearly had to crash the plane for heaven’s sake!”

”The key word being ’nearly.’ We traveled halfway across the world and only met three stand users. I’d call that a success,” Jotaro said. ”When I was your age, I had already crashed at least two planes…”

”Yeah, yeah, whatever gramps,” Josuke laughed. ”But, uh… What are we going to do with this guy?” He slapped Jason on the shoulder. The man in question was looking incredibly uncomfortable, surrounded by people he knew could beat his ass in less than a second. It was quite cathartic to watch.

”He didn’t even have a fleshbud in him, so… it’s probably not a good idea to leave him here,” Koichi said. Jason twitched at the sound of the below average heigh teen’s voice.

After Koichi had beat him, Josuke had quickly patched up everyone on the plane. Conveniently enough, To Heaven seemed to wipe everyone's’ memory from the incident. Using some of his connections, Jotaro had even managed to get Jason a seat on the next plane. Hence, the man was here with them, at Empire City Airport.

”Hmph. Rotten to the core,” Jotaro muttered and glared at the man. He glanced at his watch and mumbled something below his breath. ”Stay here,” he said and grabbed Jason by the arm. ”I’ll be back in a few minutes.” And then he was off, dragging Jason with him into the crowd. The both of them quickly disappeared out of sight, leaving the boys alone.

”So, uh… where was he off to?” Okuyasu asked.

Josuke shrugged. ”Who knows? That man is about as expressive as a brick wall.” He started looking through his bag.

”He’s probably going to meet with one of the Speedwagon Foundation’s agents,” Koichi said. ”They would know how to contain stand users.”

”Let’s just hope they do a better job with that than with vampires,” Josuke mumbled. ”Ah, there it is,” he said and pulled his phone from the bag. ”I should probably call my mom and tell her we got here safe and sound,” he explained to the others and pressed the ’On’ button. ”You know how she can get…”

”No problem,” Okuyasu said, and backed off, giving Jouske some room. ”I would call my dad, but he can’t use the phone.”

”Hey, where did you leave him?”

”Oh, in the house my brother bought. He can take care of himself, and Stray Cat keep him company. I asked Tonio to visit him every now and then…”

Josuke zoned out from his friends’ conversation and focused on his phone. It was buzzing like crazy. One voice message from home, as well as five messages and three missed calls from Hayato.

”What the hell…?”

xxXXxx

Misfortune, it would seem, followed certain people all throughout their lives. Some people walk in broken shoes until the day they stop walking; Hayato Kawajiri got this dad killed, trapped in a time loop, and then kidnapped by aliens.

Yes, actual aliens. No, seriously.

Let’s rewind a bit.

A few hours earlier, in Morioh…

The blue lady returned a few minutes later with an amused smile on her face.

”A very interesting human. Aggressive, but funny.” She sat back in front of Hayato. ”Unlike you,” she said and nodded to the boy. ”You’re not much fun at all. And much better at holding on to valuable information,” she sighed.

”As it turns out,” she continued. ”Josuke Higashikata is not home at the moment.” She fixed her eyes on him. ”Do you know where he is?”

Hayato shook his head. Not a lie; he really really didn’t know where Josuke was. Which was a good thing, because that meant the blue lady couldn’t press him for the information. But if Josuke wasn’t at home… where was he?

”Hm… I suppose that makes sense,” Lucky mumbled. ”Of course; if you knew where he was, you wouldn’t have gone to his home, you would have gone directly to wherever he is.”

…

”So, um…” the red lady said. Toaster, Hayato thought she was called. ”What do we do now?”

”We wait,” Lucky shrugged. ”I left my invisible friend there to see if she could find something useful. She’ll be back in a few minutes, I think.”

xxXXxx

Empire City Airport…

Jotaro cursed. Just his luck, he was already late. He pushed his way through the crowd, Jason practically dragged behind him.

”H-hey, hold on, where are we going? What are you going to do to me?”

”Shut it,” Jotaro told him. ”And if I as much as see one trail of smoke, I’ll break your legs.” 

Jason shut it.

The two pushed and shoved their way through the thickest part of the crowd, leaving a trail of swearing and indignant people behind them. Once they emerged from the sea of people, they found themselves in a slightly less busy section of the airport. This particular corner was reserved for a few modern art pieces to look at while waiting for your plane. Though most people came here for a chance to sit down at one of the benches.

On one of the benches, a bench like any other sat two not very ostentatious people. A woman in a light beige trench coat and dark brown fedora, and a young man in a deep dark purple suit.

”You’re late,” the woman, Agent Kent of the Speedwagon Foundation, said and stood up.

”I know,” Jotaro said. ”Got held up in customs.”

Agent Kent shook her head. ”Really, I thought you knew better by now…” She nodded towards Jason. ”That’s the perp?”

”Correct,” Jotaro said. ”Jason Timbuktu. His stand is gaseous in nature. Makes people into violent savages if they inhale it. Very effective in crowds. ’To Heaven’ it’s called.”

”I see… turned the passengers on the plane against you, right?”

”Yes. It works on stands too, so don’t let your stand inhale any of it.”

Agent Kent’s raised her eyebrow. ”I didn’t know stand could breathe,” she said. ”How did you find that out?”

”That’s not important right now,” Jotaro said. He was not super keen on anyone learning of his stupid mistake. The blow to his pride was big enough as it was.

”If you say so,” Agent Kent said and shrugged. She quickly scanned the surroundings, before grabbing Jason herself. ”Sit,” she commanded, and forcibly sat him down on the bench, next to the young man in the suit. From her trench coat, she produced a handheld tape recorder. She proceeded to press it uncomfortably close up in the man's face. ”Good. Now summon your stand.”  
  
”Wha… but he said that…” Jason’s gaze flicked back and forth between Agent Kent and Jotaro.

”Let me guess, he was going to break your legs, right?” Agent Kent asked. ”Beleive you me, I can break more than your legs, and I'm telling you to summon your stand.” She pressed the ’Record’ button on the recorder.

Jason threw Jotaro one last look and gulped. ”F-fine,” he stuttered. ”T-To Heaven!”

xxXXxx

At the other end of the airport...

”Um…” Okuyasu mumbled something. ”What was it Jotaro was going to do again?”

”I, uh… I think…. maybe he was going to…” Koichi frowned. ”I-I can’t remember.”

”I think… was there a stand user on the plane?” Josuke weighed in. "I think I might've healed a bunch of people?"

Okuyasu shrugged. "If we can’t even remember it, then it was probably not all that important."

xxXXxx

Jotaro blinked. What was he doing here again? He remembered... something had happened on the plane… He was meeting Agent Kent…

”Yare yare…” he muttered. He really hated stands that screwed around with his mind.

”See, now that wasn't so dangerous, now was it?” Agent Kent smiled at the incredibly confused man in front of her.

”W-who the fuck are you?” he spat. ”Where am I? What happened?” His breathing speed up. ”What the hell is going on?” he said, nearly yelled.

”Tsk,” Agent Kent sounded. ”Agent Canon, would you…?”  
  
The young man, who had been doing his best to not come off like he had been listening to things he had nothing to do with twitched to life. Behind him appeared a ghastly figure, pale like the moon, partially clad in black, with horns forming a sort of crown on its head. One word was written over and over again in stripes on its body. ”GACT.”

For one second, maybe less, the stand looked into Jotaro’s eyes. Somewhere, deep within him, the marine biologist couldn’t help but feel just a bit unnerved. Something about the stand’s melting eyes…

The moment lasted only for a second before the stand turned its attention towards Jason.

”Wh-what are you…” The enemy stand user didn’t get to finish his sentence. The stand exuded some kind of liquid from its hands. As soon as the white fluid touched him, Jason shut up. His eyes, seemingly, became heavy and closed. His body unconscious, he fell to the side, where the young man gently caught him.

”Freaky, right?” Agent Kent said.”Let’s go” She put her hand on Jotaro’s shoulder. ”We have about three minutes before we need to wake him.”

The two agents took a few steps away from the bench.

”Who’s the kid?” Jotaro asked. ”A new recruit?”

”Yes. We call him ’Canon.' His stand can create some sort of acid that makes people hallucinate. Hence, we have to be quick, it takes less than three minutes for the acid to start digesting our perp.”

Jotaro nodded. He couldn’t help but feel like there was something strange about the guy’s stand… but that would have to wait. For now, he had to focus on the mission. ”Any new information on Santana?”

”Yes, actually,” Agent Kent said. ”You know the two scientists that were in the vault when he escaped? Mr. Bister and Dr. Bright?”

”They found the bodies?”

”More than that. They found them alive.”

Now it was Jotaro’s turn to raise his eyebrow. ”Alive?” he said skeptically. That didn’t sound like Santana, or any other vampire he had ever heard or fought before.

”Yep. A bit malnourished and missing some blood, but otherwise fine. Aside from trauma, of course.”

”The pillar man wanted information, I assume?”

Correct,” Agent Kent said. ”Mostly about the power of the arrows, though he wanted to know about the stone of Aja too… he also kept asking about someone called ’JoJo.’”

Jotaro’s hands formed into fists. ”Joseph Joestar. Is he okay?”

”Yes, he is fine. We got two guards present at all times,” Agent Kent said. ”He’s as safe as anyone can get with that thing out there.”

Jotaro didn’t feel much assured by her words. ”Anything else you have to tell me?”

”Unfortunately not,” Agent Kent said. ”No news of mysterious disappearances or deaths, or unexplained occurrences from Beach City. I’m guessing the pillar man is laying low for now.”

”Which is going to make it a pain to find him,” Jotaro sighed. ”I guess we should get back to your friend…”

Jotaro stopped when he saw Agent Kent hesitating.

”One thing,” she said. ”See, I…” she removed her thin glasses, and looked straight into Jotaro’s eyes. ”See, I actually live just outside Beach City. I left as soon as the news came, but… I have a son there. I realize it’s selfish, but if you could take the time to just make sure he’s okay, I’d appreciate it.”

…

”What’s his name?”

”Kevin.”

”And he’s not a stand user?”

”No. He… doesn’t… have the right spirit.”

…

”I’ll see what I can do.”

”Thanks.”

xxXXxx

A Few Hours Earlier, in Morioh…

Said and done: A few minutes of waiting later, Hayato could feel the presence of something invisible moving past him and towards Lucky.

Something… was off. 

Hayato starred at where he thought Lucky’s stand ought to be… He had never been able to see stands before, only other stand users could. But he had been in the presence of several stands and seen their effects. This was… different.

He could have sworn he heard a faint whisper coming from thin air. And Lucky was listening.

”Mhm… I see… how unfortunate,” she said to herself. She shook her head in disappointment and stood back up. ”Bad news, Toaster,” she told the small red woman. ”Josuke Higashikata isn’t at home, and won’t be for a while. We don’t know where he is, nor does the human in the house.” She started looking for something in her cape.

”But… what do we do then?” Toaster asked.

”We go find him, of course!” Lucky said. She took something from her cape. Hayato wasn’t sure what. A pen made from crystal? ”Gamma, if you could come and pick us up, that’d be nice,” she said to the small tool. Some kind of microphone?

She turned to Hayato. ”I’m afraid you’ll have to come with us,” she told the boy. ”Toaster, pick him up.”

”Uh…okay,” Toaster said. She grabbed the boy and hoisted him above her head.

Hayato struggled the best he could, but the small woman was stronger than anyone her size had any right to be.

”Help! Help me!” he yelled as loud as he could. On some level, he knew that there wasn’t much anyone could do… not if the blue lady had a stand, but still. ”I’m being kidnapped!” But no one in the sleepy neighborhood heard his screams.

”Oh, so now you talk,” Lucky grumbled. She snapped her fingers. ”Toaster make him quiet.” 

”Oh, uh…” the red woman placed her hand over Hayato’s mouth, muffling his screams, at least a little.

”Listen here, small human…” Lucky stooped down to his eye level. ”I would recommend you calm down. My companion here has a bit of an… _explosive_ temper. She doesn’t want to hurt you, but you humans are so fragile, she might by mistake. And that wouldn’t be very good, for either of us.”

Hayato looked into the blue lady’s eyes. He stopped moving and screaming. A tear rolled down his cheek.

”Ah, good!” she said and clapped her hands. ”Good to see we understand each other.”

In the distance, a wooshing sound was growing louder and louder. Something was falling from the heavens.

xxXXxx

Tuttifrutta ”Agent Kent” MacLeod  
Supposedly the world’s best secret agent. No one remembers who started the rumor.

Stand: Secret Service

Appearance: The stand is bound to an ordinary if somewhatt outadated in today's world) hand held tape recorder.

Notable Powers and Abilities:  
•Memory Erasure-Secret Service is capable of erasing any memory it has recorded from any person who has the memory. For example, if Anna at accounting and Fredrik at Finances both saw Tuttifrutta taking the last piece of cake, which was reserved for Irene in Intelligence, Secret Service needs only to record one of them saying they saw the event order to erase it form both of their memory.

This ability is limited, however, as hearing about the erased memory will bring it back to the person hearing it.

•Secret Best- One sub-ability of Secret Service is that it can, by recording when a stand user summons their stand, make them forget all about their stand-even that they have one, and how to summon it. However, hearing the stand’s name, or any mention that they might have a stand, or of any event involving their stand will bring the memories back, and with it, the stand.

Stats:  
Destructive Power :None  
Speed :N/A  
Range :The averag recording range for such a machine  
Durability :Plastic  
Precision:epends on how specific the person is  
Development Potential :E

Agent Canon  
The newest recruit to join the Speedwagon Foundation’s Special Operation Agents. Has a scary-looking stand, but is a polite and mild-mannered individual.

Stand: ???

Notable Powers and Abilities:  
•Illusion-Creates an acid that traps people in illusions. While useful to contain people, it has the downside that the acid will begin to digest the victim in less than three minutes unless the ability is canceled. 

Stats:  
Destructive Power:?  
Speed:?  
Range:?  
Durability:?  
Precision:?  
Development Potential:? 

xxXXxx

**This Begins JoJo and the Crystal Gems part two: Battle Gem**

<—To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I saw Change Your Mind and GODDAMMIT! GODDAMMIT, Crewniverse! Dammit, Rebecca! D-do you have something against me and my fanfiction? When I for once have planned something ahead of time, do you have to go and ruin it in the next episode?
> 
> *mutters angrily*
> 
> Anyways, great episode/special/mini-movie/faux series finale, 10/10, will watch again.
> 
> The thing is, the thing that ruins my thing fit so well into the overarching story and themes of Steven Universe as a whole (and it had some neat animation too), that I can’t even be angry at it.
> 
> *sighs*
> 
> So either it’s back to the drawing board, or I’ll have to live with contradicting SU cannon big time.
> 
> x
> 
> Agent Kent is inspired by a TV series I watched as a kid. Her stand, Secret Service is named after Robert Johnson and Punchdrunks’ rendition of In Her Majesty’s Secret Service (from the James Bond movie of the same name), which was used in the opening of Kent Agent.
> 
> Fifty good taste points if you can find the Cornelis Vreeswijk reference.
> 
> Something rather magical happened when writing this chapter… I finished, not on deadline, but like…. three days before the deadline. I’m not sure what kind of dark magic is behind this, but let’s hope it’s permanent. Look forward to seeing the next chapter, Sweet and the Psycho out within the next two weeks. Until then, take care of the planet Earth, and remember that anything can happen in space!


	23. Sweet and the Psycho, Act 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ”I think crying is really funny.”  
> -Rebecca Sugar
> 
> Well, that explains a lot!
> 
> By the way, have I thanked everyone that has commented on and supported this story yet? Cause I really appreciate it.

Lamp Entertainment presents…

Four people were hastily making their way through the streets of the city, like so many other people. Just four tourists, three teens, and one adult, a father or uncle perhaps. Maybe they were making their way towards a hotel, or a relative or a friend.

Any casual observer looking in wouldn’t be able to tell anyway.

Of course, the eyes following the four stand users didn’t belong to any casual observer.

From within darkness thick enough to leave regular humans blind, she followed them tirelessly.

Oh no, she was no casual observer. And she was far, far from a regular human.

She licked her lips. Some primal instinct. She had never really enjoyed killing before. Only the money. But this… this kill she was going to enjoy.

**Chapter 12: Sweet and the Psycho, Act 1**

_One night in Empire City makes a hard man humble  
_ _Not much between despair and ecstasy  
_ _One night in Empire City and the tough guys tumble  
_ _Can’t be too careful with your company  
_ _I can feel a devil walking next to me_

Empire City! One of the modern day’s wonders. Countless tales had been spun about this one city. So many, in fact, that some people refused to believe such a city could even exist.

The lights, the sounds, the people, the overwhelming stimuli coming from everywhere all at once… the saying is true, what happens in Empire City never sleeps. Even though the night had replaced the day there was still an abundance of nightclubs, bars, restaurants and an assortment of stores still open.

One such business was a restaurant called Ted’s Moon.

It was a small and pretty anonymous place, not much making it stick out from the myriad of other, much more interesting restaurants and diners one could find in the large city. A few tables scattered throughout a room, and a simple buffet with a few options for dinner.

Normally, the business closed around seven, but a friend had asked Ted (after whom the restaurant was named) to keep it open for an hour or two longer.

The nightlife of Empire City had much more interesting venues than this humble place, so there were only two people in the building at the time, enjoying that uncomfortable silence that is made between two strangers.

However, all that changed quickly with a 「Ding Dong」from the doorbell and the entrance of…

”Oh, being in this city is almost nostalgic!” Okuyasu exclaimed. The boisterous boy made a huge gesture with his arms like he wanted to embrace the city. ”I used to live in Tokyo with my dad and bro, you know. It was a lot like this city.” A walk through the city had reinvigorated him, filling him with new energy after the tiring flight… more so than it had his friends.

”Mhm…” Josuke mumbled absentmindedly, staring at his phone.

”Did you see that tower we passed by? That totally looked like the Tokyo Tower! My brother took me there once. I nearly fell off and died!”

”That’s nice Okuyasu,” Josuke answered, his eyes still glued to the phone.

”Thanks, I was scared to death… Hey! Are you even listening?”

Jotaro ignored the sounds of Okuyasu strangling Jouske behind him. He instead diverted his attention to the owner and namesake of the establishment.

”Hello Ted,” he said in English. ”I apologize for…” Ted interrupted him with a laugh and hugged Jotaro. An audible gasp escaped the three teens, Okuyasu and Josuke dropping their feud in a second. Someone casually hugged Jotaro!? What new spore of madness was this?

”Always nice to see you, Jotaro!” Ted said, the marine biologist in question looking extremely awkward. Like a mannequin. ”You always bring something unique with you.”

”D-did that just happen?” Okuyasu whispered and stared in disbelief. ”Did he just hug Jotaro?”

”This journey just keeps on getting weirder and weirder,” Josuke whispered back. The shadow of Crazy Diamond was hovering behind him. He had instinctively summoned his stand, expecting to have to heal the restaurant owner from the beating he was due to receive after his transgression.

”U-unbelievable,” Koichi mouthed. Truly, this was a bizarre adventure.

Ted turned to the teens, smiling and chuckling at their reactions. ”Hello,” he said in English. ”I’m afraid I don’t speak Japanese, I hope English will suffice?”

”Oh, um… Of course!” Josuke said. He offered the man his right hand. Ted took it and shook it. ”I am Higas… Josuke. Josuke Higashikata. Jotaro’s uncle.”

”Koichi Hirose. Pleased to meet you.”

”Um… I’m… Niji-uh… Okuyasu. I am Okuyasu Nijimura.”

”And I am Ted Guardestad,” Ted said and shook all of their hands. ”Very nice meeting you all. It is my experience that Jotaro has very… interesting friends.” He made a quick gesture towards the back of the restaurant. Next to a door, a ghastly figure in a red bellhop uniform manifested. The figure bowed in greetings before flickering out of existence.

Tonight was full of surprises!

”You’re a stand user?” Josuke asked. ”Are you another agent from the Spee…”

”Stand user, yes,” Ted said interrupted him, with a notably lower tone. ”She, on the other hand…” He motioned towards the pink haired woman who was looking at the group with an amused smile. ”…she is not.”

”Ted is a… friend of mine,” Jotaro explained in Japanese. ”I met him a few years when he first started manifesting his stand. He’s not part of the Speedwagon Foundation, just a civilian stand user.”

The boys nodded. Just like Tonio home in Morioh. Though hopefully, their intestines wouldn’t explode out of their stomachs to fix diarrhea when they ate his food.

As if on cue, Ted spoke up.

”Oh, but where are my manners?” he said. ”You must be starving after the long travel. Please…” he gestured towards the buffet. ”Have some food. It’s on the house.”

”If you say so,” Josuke smiled and bowed. Okuyasu and Koichi followed suit. Ted had been bang on the money with his guess; they really were hungry. Turns out all the jokes had a kernel of truth to them. Airline food wasn’t very good.

”You do know I can pay for food, right?” Jotaro shook his head. ”You don’t have to pamper me.”

”No please, it’s the least I can do,” Ted assured him. ”You’ve helped me a lot, and you’ve helped the world a lot… giving you a warm meal is really the least I can do.”

”Hmph. I think you ove…”

「DING DONG」

The doorbell cut him off before Jotaro had the time to protest. 

”Excuse me, are you still open? A pale woman with platinum hair had entered the restaurant. ”The sign with opening hours say you’re closed, but the sign on the door still says open, so…?” She spoke with a southern European dialect… Italian, maybe?

Behind her walked a tall, broad-shouldered man wearing a hideous yellow smiley face beanie. 

”I'm sorry to bother you if you're not open, we’ll just find some other place…” the woman excused herself.

”No no, please, if you’re already here,” Ted quickly said and hurried over to the counter.

”Oh, thanks,” the woman said. ”My name’s Ava. Ava Fusili.”

xxXXxx

Somewhere Else, Sometime Earlier…

So. Aliens.

From the heavens fell a spaceship. Red, shaped like an upside-down teardrop and with a large yellow eye on it.

Hayato had, of course, realized something was up with these two weird ladies. Blue and red skin wasn’t exactly a common trait. And the blue lady calling him ’human’ was also weird too.

But Hayato hadn’t actually thought that… he had heard about the guy Mikitaka claiming to be an alien… but this was just… crazy. Actual aliens!? He was ready to believe in psychic ghost powers that could break every conceivable law of physics, but aliens? Now you’ve gone too far.

The spaceship slowed its descent and gently set down in the grass. A hatch opened on its side, inside, he could glimpse a large room… seemingly bigger on the inside… and with two other people waiting inside.

Lucky clapped her hands. ”Excellent!” she said. She walked up the hatch forming a little ramp, the small red woman carrying Hayato following in her footsteps.

The inside was a large round room, with several computer consoles and chairs.

”Punctuality like this is why I wanted you to come with me on this little mission, Gamma,” Lucky said, gesturing towards one of the two women in the spaceship.

Her skin was green, her hair a light yellow-greenish, and in the shape of a pyramid. She was walking on metal stilts and had a green crystal in her chest. She didn’t say anything but nodded.

”I thought you wanted her because of her electricity powers?” the other one said dryly. ”And that’s not her name.” 

She was tall and lean. Her skin was grey, gleaming like metal. She had short hair, colored in all the colors of the rainbow. She had a rod-shaped crystal stuck in through one eye, the tip coming through on the other end of the head. It looked like someone had hammered a large nail through one of her eyes.

She glanced at Hayato, and her eye twitched. ”What is that, and why did you bring it with you?” she said in the same tone you might ask someone why they brought an icky insect inside.

”That is a small human,” Lucky said. ”A ’children’ I think it’s called.”

”Is it that… the Josuke human you were looking for?”

”Unfortunately not… but it does know Josuke Higashikata, and I think it holds the key to finding him.” From a pocket in her cape, she grabbed Hayato’s phone that she had confiscated earlier. She handed it to the green lady.

”Here. It’s some kind of communication device. My invisible friend tells me she tried to use it to contact Josuke Higashikata. See if you can figure out how to it works.”

”Uh…sure,” the green lady said. Two floating fingers grabbed the phone. She put on the control panel. She pressed the button on the front, and the display lit up. She began tapping on it, frowning.

”Good. Toaster, you can put the human down,” Lucky said, and sat down at one of the panels. She pressed a few buttons. Only a faint vibration in the floor told Hayato that they were taking off.

”Um… where?” the red lady asked quietly.

”Use your imagination,” the grey lady said.

Toaster, the red lady, looked around the room, for a few seconds, before settling on simply putting Hayato down where she was standing.

”Inspiring,” the grey lady said and clapped her hands sarcastically. ”Always a pleasure seeing rubies work their genius.”

Toaster blushed and scampered over to the green lady. Gamma, Lucky had called her.

”Be nice, Iris,” Lucky mumbled, looking over some space charts or something. ”Remember what I told you about working together?”

”No. Do you remember what I told you about calling me by my real name?”

Lucky snorted but didn’t say anything.

You know, something was reminding Hayato an awful lot of how his parents would sometimes fight, back when he had both parents. 

Making sure not to make any moves that could be interpreted aggressive, Hayato crawled over and huddled up next to one of the control panels. The cold stare of the grey lady followed him.

”Tell me again…” she said. ”…why you had to bring this… small human with you?”

”Hmh?” Lucky looked up from the screen. ”I thought it was obvious why it would be useful, Iris?”

”I’m just a stupid quartz,” ’Iris’ said. ”Use small words. And stop calling me that.”

”Now, now,” Lucky laughed. ”That’s simply not true, I think you’re very clever, Iris…”

”That’s not my name.”

”…you just don’t agree with me. Which is understandable, my plan is rather… unconventional.”

”Not having a clue what you’re doing is an unconventional tactic, yes.”

Lucky glared at her grey companion not-named Iris. ”Do you, or do you not want me to answer your question?”

’Iris’ glared back, but didn’t say anything. Lucky sighed.

”Three reasons,” she said. ”Firstly, she obviously knows more than she’s letting on. As you so observantly pointed out, we’re dealing with unknown factors, and we need as much information as possible.” She started pacing back and forth inside the spaceship.

”Secondly, she has direct contact with Josuke Higashikata via that communication device. Thirdly, she might make for a good bargaining chip… should it come to that.”

”And how do you know the Josuke human will want her back? It doesn’t look very valuable.”

”Oh please, humans are emotional creatures,” Lucky said. ”Even more so that us, Iris…

”Those nicknames are stupid, Moonstone,” ’Iris’ said.

Lucky’s eye twitched. ”Listen, if we want to this mission to succeed, we’re going to need every advantage we can get our hands on. This includes confusion and blending in with huma…”

”Stupid.”

”Your limited vocabulary is stupid,” Lucky muttered. She sat back down and turned her back to the grey lady.

Not-Iris groaned and fixed Hayato with a cold stare. ”Hey you,” she said. ”Small human. My name is Titanium. Titanium Quartz. Those two are Ruby and Peridot,” she pointed to the red lady and the green lady respectively. ”And she..” she pointed to ’Lucky.’ ”…she is Moonstone. You understand?”

Hayato nodded. He understood.

Moonstone’s hands twitched. ”Are you sure we shouldn’t tell her our facets and cuts too?” She took a small blue crystal ball from her cape and spun it aggressively on the panel.

Titanium ignored her… leader? ”Good,” she said, nodding to Hayato. ”If I hear you using those… moronic nicknames, I’ll throw you off the ship, Moonstone’s delusional plans damned. You get that?”

Hayato nodded again. He got it.

So. Not only were there aliens, and not only were those aliens kidnapping him… but they were also bickering like a dysfunctional family. Brilliant.

Hayato wasn’t sure whether that meant he was in more or less danger.

xxXXxx

My Own Moon

User: Ted Guardestad  
A cheerful and kind soul. Plays the guitar.

Appearance: Humanoid, clad in a red bellhop uniform. Rather than the traditional white gloves, MOM’s hands are black, with white specks, like stars. Its face is divided by a crescent, one-half black like the night sky, the other silvery white like the moon.

Powers and Abilities  
•My Own Moon gives the user somewhere to go for a minute of peace and quiet. A safe place in a dangerous world.

Stats:  
Destructive Power: N/A  
Speed: C  
Range: A (ca. 1km)  
Durability: E  
Precision: B  
Development Potential: C

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get it? Get it?
> 
> Sorry, for the delay, I really wanted to have the chapter out yesterday, but I got… distracted. On the plus side, that mud cake was delicious.
> 
> Speaking of delays… you may have to expect more. See, I’ve spent the last two months or so, ah… without a job. That has been remedied now, which is good, cause money. It’s kinda important to have.
> 
> Buuuuuuut…. if you’ll remember there was a, um… a drop in productivity on this project around the time I got my job.
> 
> Yeah.
> 
> It was my first job, and I was giving it my all. Which was good, because they want me back now… but it was also bad because I used up all my energy, so I couldn’t get any writing done. And when I didn’t get any writing done, it made me feel bad, and then it was even harder to write… you get the picture.
> 
> Hopefully, being a bit more self-aware, I’ll be able to better balance work life and writing… but still, heads up. There may be a longer wait between chapters following this one.
> 
> So until we meet next time… take care of the planet Earth and remember that anything can happen in space.


End file.
